


Feel the Beat

by starshipsandsuperheroes



Category: So You Think You Can Dance RPF, The 100 (TV)
Genre: I'll probably add more characters as we get them I'm so sorry, So You Think You Can Dance AU, There's a lot of characters I'm sorry that's your top 20
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-18 11:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4703969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starshipsandsuperheroes/pseuds/starshipsandsuperheroes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke Griffin has wanted nothing more than to audition and prove herself as a dancer on this show ever since she was a little girl.  Bellamy Blake just wants a chance to see his sister be recognized for what he knows she's a natural at, and Octavia wants the same for him.  Raven wants to prove to herself that dance is a passion worth pursuing, Jasper and Monty are just in it for the potentially free ticket to Vegas, Murphy needs a change of direction, Anya wants to prove that her age doesn't mean she should quit just yet, and Lincoln just really needs someone to watch his dogs so he can audition because in hindsight, he maybe should have left them at home after all.</p><p>Or, the So You Think You Can Dance AU that no one asked for and everyone is getting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Boston Auditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is based off the Fox TV show So You Think You Can Dance. I'll try to explain each process a bit in this note at the beginning for those of you that don't watch the show so that you'll know what to expect a bit more. (Although if you don't watch the show you really should it's excellent).
> 
> The story starts in the audition process. There's five cities each year that are visited for a series of open auditions. Contestants can either be sent home, asked to stay for choreography, or sent straight to Vegas. If one is asked to stay for choreography, the judges liked what they saw in the solo the contestant performed in their own style of dance, but want to see how well they pick up another style, and make another round of cuts. If one is sent straight to Vegas, they continue directly on to the semifinal round of cuts in Las Vegas.
> 
> Enjoy!

Clarke Griffin decided at 4 AM on a very cold New England morning that she was going to murder her boyfriend. 

She was tense for 80 different reasons, and 20 of them were the fact that Finn was supposed to have arrived at her apartment an entire 15 minutes earlier to pick her up.Normally, she was the picture of patience.Right now, she felt like walking herself to the theater and leaving him to catch up.A puff of breath gave away the sigh of frustration she had let out, and she shifted the dance bag on her shoulder as she checked her watch again.

4:03 AM.  

Finn Collins was going to die.

She heard screeching tires, and the next thing she knew, there was a heap of car wheezing its way up to the curb with as much speed as it could manage before it fell apart.Any other day, seeing the car limp along on its last legs earned a sympathetic pat from her, but today, it was all she could do to leap in and close the door in time for the car and its driver to shoot off onto the road again.  

“Where the hell were you?” she demanded, tossing the dance bag into the backseat and throwing on a seatbelt.

“Roberta wasn’t as accommodating this morning as she usually is.This cold weather just isn’t good for her old bones anymore,” he replied, speaking as quickly as he could to calm her down.A quick grin accompanied a glance over at her seat.“I brought you coffee, if it helps.”

Clarke snatched the styrofoam cup out of the cup holder and took a big sip.“No,” she snarked, “But I won’t say no to free coffee.”

Finn looked wounded.“It’s Dunkin Donuts.”

“Now you might be getting somewhere,” Clarke murmured, nodding in approval.Warm steam gently wafted out the lid’s opening, and the car filled with the smell of coffee.

The radio jumped between static and snippets of a song Clarke might have recognized if she had been able to hear more of it at once.The almost-silence that had fallen in the car lasted a few more moments before they came to a stoplight, and Finn turned to her.“You nervous?”

She shrugged.“Who wouldn’t be?”

A grin full of false bravado challenged her immediately.“Me.”

“Yeah, right.”She rolled her eyes.

Neither spoke for a moment before Finn quietly admitted, “I’m nervous as hell.What if they rip my technique to shreds?”

Clarke shook her head.“Nah, they don’t do that at auditions.They save that for Vegas.That’s when they weed out the true weaklings. 

“Aren’t you a real ray of sunshine this morning?” Finn snorted, hitting her lightly on the arm before turning up the radio a bit and humming along to the static song.With the blanks filled in, Clarke recognized it.

Her phone buzzed, and Clarke fumbled to balance her coffee while she dug it out of her pocket.Finn glanced over to see her almost spill on her lap before holding her phone up triumphantly.“You know, they make cupholders for people like you.Just so you can put your hot coffee down and not burn your legs off hours before your big audition.”

Clarke barely looked up.“I like to live dangerously.”  

The text was from a girl at her studio, who she had convinced to audition.The girl was the same age as her, and had mentioned that her boyfriend was auditioning.Clarke didn’t know her all that well outside of classes, but that conversation had ended in them exchanging numbers.A few days later, Clarke had convinced the girl to audition as well.

“Do you mind if we meet up with someone after we’re checked in?” she murmured, splitting her attention between speaking and replying to the text she had received.

“With?”

“A girl from my studio.She’s auditioning today too.So’s her boyfriend, actually.But I want to meet up with her, since I convinced her to come.”

Finn shrugged.“Sure.Whatever you want.”He went back to humming along with the song on the radio, and Clarke found herself zeroing in on her coffee.  

She was ridiculously nervous, and had been for the past week.This was the show she had been watching since she was a little girl, and now she’d have the chance to be a part of the cast.She couldn’t mess this up.  

____________________________________________________________________________

By the time Clarke and Finn had parked, retrieved their bags, and sprinted to the theater, the line stretched out the door and around the corner.With a groan, Clarke settled herself down in line, prepared to wait as long as it took to register.

“You know, we wouldn’t be this far back in line if you would actually take your car to a mechanic that knows what he’s doing,” she snapped, draining the last of her coffee and jogging forward to tuck it into the trash can at the corner.

“Roberta doesn’t approve of the newer medicines.I hold her together with duct tape and dreams,” he defended, looking more than a little wounded.“She’s old and frail.All this modern medicine is too much for her.She’d never be the same." 

“If we actually got to where we were going on time for once, I think I’d be ok with that.”

Finn shrugged.“Or, someone could get a car.”

“Talk to me after I’ve paid off my student loans,” Clarke groaned, running a hand through her hair.

With a nod of sympathetic understanding that can only hold the emotion of a kindred spirit, Finn slouched against the wall, yawning into the crook of his elbow.Clarke tugged the hat she had on down over her ears and shivered slightly.March in Boston was always bitterly cold.It didn’t matter how much the people on the news tried to convince her with their sunny smiles that spring was here when she could still see her own breath regularly in the morning.  

The sun rose a bit higher in the sky, and the line started to move finally.Clarke glanced behind her to see the line had stretched itself all the way down the block and was steadily gaining people still, wrapping itself around the next corner.“At least Roberta got her ass into gear soon enough to get us here before we got stuck back there,” Clarke mumbled, and Finn laughed.

“I told her you would understand,” he beamed.With another eye roll, she ducked around the corner, finally coming in sight of the theater doors.

For whatever reason, her breath caught in her throat at the idea of actually stepping through them.What did she think she was doing, auditioning here?She’d watched so many dancers go through this same process for years, and had always dreamed of being one of them.But now that she was here, was she really ready?Could she really match up to them?

Finn’s hand came to rest on her shoulder.  “It’s alright,” he whispered.  “You’ll knock ‘em dead.”

With a nod that was half an acknowledgement and half reassurance for herself, Clarke kept moving towards the theater doors.

___________________________________________________________________________

Paperwork in hand, Clarke stared down at the paper number slip pinned onto her hip.  3027.  This was really happening.  

Finn slipped an arm around her waist, shouldering his own dance bag.  “Want to go find a seat?”

She nodded.“My audition’s not until around noon, but I want to see everyone audition.How about you?”

He glanced at his sheet of paperwork.“I’m closer to 1:30.Promise you’ll stick around until then?”

“You’re my ride home, aren’t you?”

“Fair enough.” 

They found seats towards the back of the theater on the left, where they wouldn’t be blocked by the judges’ table.Finn drummed his fingers nervously on his dance bag, and Clarke could see he wanted nothing more than to lace up his shoes and practice until his audition time was called.  

“You’ll just tire yourself out,” she reminded him.

He flashed her a nervous smile.“Try telling that to my feet.And to the butterflies in my stomach.”

She was opening her mouth to say something else when she heard a familiar voice behind her.“Clarke?”

“Wells!”She jumped out of her seat to meet him.Neither of them seemed to know what to do for a moment beyond stare at each other before Wells reached out for one of the most awkward hugs Clarke had ever participated in.

She cleared her that as they broke away.“Uh, Wells, this is my boyfriend, Finn.I’ve told you about him a few times.Finn, this is Wells.We, uh…”

“We broke up a year or so ago.It was mutual,” Wells finished for her, reaching forward to shake Finn’s hand.Silently, Clarke thanked whatever was listening for people who handled awkward social situations ten times better than her.

After a moment of silence between the three of them, Clarke tried to start up the conversation again.“So you decided to audition? 

Wells nodded.“Yeah.It was tough, but I feel like this show could be a huge learning experience for me, no matter how far I make it.It’s worth at least auditioning, right?”

She nodded.“Definitely.”Before she could say anything else, her phone rang.Excusing herself, Clarke ducked into a quieter alcove near them.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Clarke.”

“Hey!Where are you?”Clarke glanced around, looking for a sign of someone else on the phone, or even a glimpse of dark hair.

“I’m hanging around in the lobby.Tell me where you guys are sitting and I’ll meet up with you there.I can text my boyfriend and have him get over there too when he gets in.He said he’d be here, but he hasn’t replied to any of my texts.”

“I’m sure he’s here,” Clarke reassured her.“He’s probably just distracted.I’ll see you in a few.”

She made her way back to the seats she and Finn had saved, only to see that Wells had drifted off.“Where did he go?” she asked.

Finn shrugged.“He saw someone from his studio and went to go talk to them.I guess he’s sitting over there. 

“We should save those two seats.My friend will be here soon, and she’s trying to get in contact with her boyfriend.”They threw their coats over two of the seats in their row and fell back into the other two, chatting aimlessly until someone stopped in front of them 

“Clarke?” a very different voice asked from the one a few minutes ago.She glanced up again and smiled, barely noticing the faint frown creases between her friend’s eyebrows.  

“Hey!”Clarke stood and briefly hugged her friend before turning to Finn.“Finn, this is Raven.She’s the friend I was telling you about?And Raven, this is my boyfriend Finn.”

When Clarke turned back to glance at Finn, she caught him snapping his jaw shut from where it had been hanging down.  Huh.  That was weird.  He cleared his throat, and let out a little wave.  "Uh, pleasure."

Raven’s eyebrows shot upwards, but she quickly smoothed over what looked like surprise with a grin.“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine,” she said, sliding into the seat next to Clarke.

Finn glanced over at the two of them, and Clarke met his gaze.  For whatever reason, he almost looked guilty, but she had no idea why that would be.  Attributing it to nerves, she shrugged it off and focused on asking Raven about her audition time.  

“I’ve been here a while, so I’m going closer to 11:30 I guess,” she answered.For whatever reason, she seemed more distracted than Clarke would have expected.Suddenly, she stood up.“I have to use the bathroom.Clarke, come with me?”

“Of course.”They both stood up, and Clarke promised Finn they’d be right back.They had barely made it out and to the bathroom when Raven was yanking Clarke into an empty stall.With a little yelping noise, Clarke fell in next to her friend.“Raven, what the hell?”

“I’m really sorry about what I’m about to tell you, Clarke,” she hissed, flipping through her phone.

“Which is what, exactly?”

Raven shoved her phone into Clarke’s face.“Our boyfriend is a lying, cheating asshole.”

Clarke reached out to steady the phone in front of her and pull it a few inches back from her face.On the screen was a picture of Raven kissing a boy that must have been her boyfriend.He looked pretty similar to Finn, she thought to herself, before realizing that the guy in the picture _was_ Finn.She stared at the picture in shock.Her mouth opened, but she couldn’t make any words come out until she finally forced up an, “Are you kidding me?”

Raven grimaced.“Sorry.I wouldn’t make shit like this up.”

“And you didn’t know?”

“No, of course not.There’s no way I would have kept dating him if I had known, and I would have let you know as soon as I found out,” Raven replied, shaking her head in both response to the question and disgust.

“Damn.”

“You can say that again. 

Clarke ran a hand through her hair and let out a slow breath.This had to happen today.Of course it did.Shaking her head as if to clear it, she turned her gaze back to Raven.“What should we do?”

____________________________________________________________________________

11:30 came sooner than any of them thought it would.Before they knew it, Raven was being called up to the stage.She took a deep breath and squeezed Clarke’s hand tightly.For a second, Raven was worried her nerves would follow her to the stage, but any nervousness she had been showing signs of faded away as she let out a big breath.Head held high, she made her way up to the stage, standing in front of the microphone with more confidence than she had felt all day.

Judge Nigel Lithgoe set aside his papers and looked up, sitting forward in his chair.“Hello.”

Raven smiled.  “Hi.”

“What’s your name, dear?”

“Raven Reyes.”  

“And how old are you?”

“I’m 21.”

“What style will you be dancing for us today?”

“Jazz.”She threw out a few jazz hands to make her point, and Nigel chuckled.  

“I see you’re itching to dance.Alright, let’s see what you’ve got for us today.”

“If I can, Nigel?I’d like to dedicate this dance to my now ex-boyfriend who’s in the audience today, and is just finding out that we’re no longer together.”She smiled sweetly before giving up the microphone, and Nigel’s eyes widened.The judge next to him, Mary Murphy, laughed in surprise, while the third judge of the day, Adam Shankman, stared open mouthed at the woman before him.  

Nigel cleared his throat as she took her starting position.“Well, alright then.Cue music.”

Raven’s audition was a true testament to her power as a dancer.She had designed it to focus on accenting the beats of a sharp piece of music, and had thrown in her tumbling to showcase the full range of her strongest abilities.She kicked, turned, and hit every accent with a sense of finality.Channeling all the energy she had, she brushed each one off and shoved it away.

She focused on the sensuality of what she wanted to say, slowing down for a few moments and extending her lines as much as possible before throwing herself into the next motions.As much as she could, she drew the contrast between the power in her tumbling and the beauty in her lines, while still blending it together to appeal to to her audience.  Between the energy that was created by the dance and the energy egged on by her choice of song, which was about a breakup, Raven's power shone, hitting the audience and the judges head on.  It was intense, and she worried that it was too much for a moment, but then realized that they hadn’t cut her off immediately, which had to mean that the judges at least were enjoying it.

Finally, she spring forward into her favorite part of the dance.What started as a front handspring ended in a split, and coaxed a few gasps from the audience in front of her.She dragged herself forward a moment and rolled off the ground again, smiling quietly to herself at her success.That seemed to be enough for Nigel, who raised a hand to cut off the music.

As the audience applauded, she took a few breaths, trying to pull herself together.This was the moment of truth.If she made it through here, she could make it to Vegas.

Once the audience had quieted, Nigel spoke.“Did you know you were going to be breaking up with your boyfriend today?”

Raven shook her head.“No.I only just discovered what was happening today.”

Adam snorted.“That’s a rather ironic choice of song, huh?”

 For a moment, Raven had to think about her music.  Realizing suddenly why everyone was so amused, her eyes widened in delight.  “I guess it was fate,” she shrugged, and Nigel laughed.

“I guess it was.  As far as your dancing goes, I think you’re spectacular.”

Mary nodded.  “I agree.  Your power is phenomenal, and you are definitely something up on that stage there.”

“You rocked it, without a doubt.I loved every second,” Adam finished.

Hearing three positive reviews, Nigel lifted a slip of paper off the desk.“Come and get your ticket and go chat with that boyfriend now, will you?”

____________________________________________________________________________

Clarke could have spent the rest of the day congratulating Raven and celebrating her success, but her audition wasn’t booked too long after Raven’s.As a result, she was dashing into the theater right as they called her name, nerves gone in her rush to make it up to the stage.She barely even registered what was happening until she was standing in front of the judges, catching a glimpse of Raven and Finn sneaking back into the theater over their shoulders.

Nigel smiled up at her, and she smiled back at him as brightly as she could, brushing hair out of her face.“What’s your name, dear?”

“Clarke Griffin.”

“And how old are you, Clarke?”

“I’m 21.”

“Where are you from?”

“Charleston, Mass.”

“A true local,” Nigel joked, and she couldn’t help but laugh.“This says here you’ll be dancing contemporary for us?”

She nodded.“Yes.”

“Well, I’d love to see it." 

“If you don’t mind, I’d also like to dedicate this to my ex-boyfriend, who is just now realizing that he lost both girlfriends in a single day,” she added, before turning around and taking her starting position.Behind her, she could hear Mary Murphy screaming the way she did when she was excited.In any other situation, that would have been concerning, but here?It was reassuring.  

She turned around just in time to see Adam Shankman stand up and run a hand through his hair.His eyes were wide, and he took a few steps to walk off what had just happened.“Oh man.Ohhh man,” he laughed, taking a breath and sitting back down.“Alright, Nigel, I’m together.She can start now.”There was another second of quiet, followed by a murmured, “Oh boy.”

Nigel cleared his throat, obviously trying not to laugh.“Cue music.”

Where Raven’s audition had focused on hard hitting accents to demonstrate her power, Clarke’s contemporary tried to focus more on the power that came through the fluidity in her motions.She found herself falling between one motion and the next, hyper aware of each and every little motion in her body, from her toe to her leg to all of her. 

She found herself pausing to appreciate the music as she balanced on one foot, extending the other vertically over her head.Before she was there for too long, she fell fluidly into a roll.Each muscle in her body moved exactly how she wanted it to, from the rolling textures to the sudden stops that accented a flowing motion.

Her lines, she could feel, were better than they ever had been.Each motion was extended beyond what she had ever felt like she had done before, as if she were reaching for something every time she moved that was just out of her grasp.  

As she let herself fall gently backwards, trusting her body’s strength to cradle her down safely, she felt the music fading away, and let that affect how she ended the performance, as if letting go completely of what she had just done and releasing it to the world.  

She was so focused on this release that she nearly missed the roar that went up throughout the assembled crowd of dancers in the audience, as well as the judges.Almost in surprise, she found her way to the front of the stage again to face judgement.

The judges, as it turned out, were nearly speechless.“Wow,” Nigel murmured.“That was something.”

“You have something in you that is just an absolute delight to watch,” Mary continued, picking up where he had left off.“That spark we look for in dancers is inside of you and it isn’t just a spark, it’s a fire." 

Adam shook his head.“Damn, that boy is one unlucky bastard.You’re absolutely stunning to watch dance.He’s going to regret whatever he did to you ladies, because you are going to slaughter him with the combined power in your dancing and leave no trace of a body.” 

With a laugh, Nigel simply held up a ticket and waved it at her.“You’d better come get this, before Adam can warmonger even more, because there’s absolutely no question that you are going to Vegas.”  

With a little yelp, Clarke made her way off the stage to receive the ticket.No amount of praise from the judges, though, could have felt as good as the redness in Finn’s cheeks when he greeted her after she came offstage.

 ___________________________________________________________________________

Wells stepped up to the stage after he heard his name called feeling more like he was going to pass out than anything else.He still hadn’t quite recovered from the heart attack Clarke had given him earlier, when she had started to dedicate her dance to her ex-boyfriend.He had thought they had stayed friends after the breakup, and was incredibly alarmed and confused at first.Had she gotten the idea from the other girl that had done that? 

As it turned out, she wasn’t calling him out, and she had actually known that other girl.They had been dating the same guy.He had nearly collapsed out of relief when he realized they weren’t talking about him, and was suddenly very thankful he had worked things out with Clarke and was still good friends with her.

When Nigel called for his name, it took everything in him to keep his voice steady.“Wells Jaha.”

“And how old are you, Wells?”

“I am 22 years old.”

“What style will you be doing for us today?" 

“I’ll be performing contemporary.”

Nigel set down the paperwork and smiled up at him from the desk.“Well, I can’t wait to see it.You don’t have anyone you want to break up with while you’re up here, do you?”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head.“Nope, all set.”

Nigel chuckled, and Wells nodded, taking that as his cue to get into position.Once he saw that the man was ready, Nigel called out, “Cue music!”

The contemporary piece Wells was performing was of a much jerkier side to the style than Clarke had auditioned with.Instead of relying on fluidity, Wells relied on the extension of each and every motion.He stopped himself before fully extending some, worked to reach as far as he could in others.As much as he could, he stuck in pieces of fluidity to add more texture to his choreography.

His performance was breathtaking when it came to texture, and he knew he had designed it to be.When he performed, Wells focused on what each texture was in the greater picture of the piece, wanting every second to be memorable for a different reason.By the time he reached his ariel, he could hear the sighs of the judges’ pleasure with his routine.Within a few seconds, Nigel had stopped his music and he was racing to the front of the stage, eager to hear their thoughts.

Nigel just shook his head.“That was an incredibly dynamic contemporary adventure,” he commented, “and I enjoyed every second.”

Adam nodded in agreement.“You can do it all.You got everything in there.You’ve definitely got a lot of potential hidden away in there.”

“You are something dynamic indeed,” Mary laughed, smiling at the man in front of her.“so you’d better come get your ticket to Vegas up here!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Partially out of courtesy and partially to see what would happen, Raven and Clarke stuck around to watch Finn’s audition.Both holding a ticket to Vegas, it felt good to be secure in the knowledge that they had passed onto the next stage.They could deal with the heartbreak later, too.After what had happened with the judges, Clarke realized she could use that to fuel her until she got home long enough to cry into some Ben and Jerry’s like any good teenage girl.And maybe some alcohol, like any good 21 year old woman.

Finn hadn’t been able to completely shake his nerves, but he appeared confident enough if you didn’t know him, Clark realized.He was standing in front of the microphone with what looked like confidence and an easy smile, but Clarke knew they were both fake.She almost felt bad for distracting him the way she had with her earlier reveal, but couldn’t quite bring herself to be totally disappointed in herself, and it looked like Raven felt the same way.

Nigel set aside his paperwork and sat forward.“What’s your name and where are you from?”

“My name is Finn Collins, I’m 21 years old, and I’m from Boston, Mass.”

Nigel, ever observant, had noticed where Finn had been sitting.“And, are you the boyfriend?”

Turning a little pink, Finn nodded.“I am, yeah.”

“Not anymore, you’re not,” he murmured, turning back to the papers for a second as the audience laughed.“It says here you’ll be dancing jazz for us?”

“Yes I will,” he replied, trying to gain some of his confidence back.”  

“Well, I can’t wait to see it." 

With a “Thank you,” Finn turned to take his position on the stage, waiting for Nigel’s call of “Cue music!” to begin his audition. 

Finn focused all of his energy into his leaps.Jumps were his strength, and he had packed his routine full of leaps that accented the music.Within the first few seconds, he was delighted to hear noises of pleasant surprise from the audience and the judges.Internalizing that, he threw himself into the next series of jumps, crossing the stage and kicking out with as much power and force as he could muster.

For all the strength and sturdiness that his routine had, there was a hypnotizing, fluid quality to it.Between jumps, he made the transition seem rather effortless, and found himself feeling as though he was barely skimming the ground between each leap.By the time his audition was finished, he felt like he was centimeters away from flying.He made his way to the front of the stage, ready to face the judges and feeling like he had gained some confidence back from his performance.  

Mary was the first to comment.“Well, I don’t think any of us were expecting that from you.”A few laughs in the audience rose up to meet her comment, and she continued.“Your legs are so powerful.You just keep launching yourself.It’s incredible.”

“I totally agree.  I don’t know what you eat for breakfast but I want some,” Adam added, laughing.

“I would like to see you in something other than your own style, though,” Nigel finished.“Your jazz is good, your jumps are astonishing, but I would like to see how you handle some of the other styles this show will throw at you.”

“It’s a yes from me to choreography,” Mary agreed.

“Definitely,” Adam added.

“Now go make good with those two ladies waiting for you offstage,” Nigel laughed, shooing Finn towards the stairs as he thanked the judges.

____________________________________________________________________________

Raven gladly drove Clarke home, partially because Finn had stayed for choreography and mostly because she wouldn’t have wanted to drive home with her now ex-boyfriend anyways.Once they arrived outside her apartment, Clarke was hesitant to leave her newfound friend alone, though.She hovered at the door, holding it open and seeming unsure of whether or not to say something to Raven.

“Are you gonna close the door or what?It’s getting cold in here,” Raven complained, smiling a bit in teasing. 

_What the hell_ , Clarke thought.“We just made it to Las Vegas and simultaneously broke up with our cheating boyfriend.Do you want to come in and eat Ben and Jerry’s and watch bad movies with me?”

Raven grinned.“Hell yes." 

Both of them texted Finn back a “Congrats!” when he let them know he had made it into Vegas week from choreography, then turned back to their ice cream and made a calendar to count the days until their plane left.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm actually not a dancer. If anyone wants to give me technical advice for this, I am more than open to edits and suggestions. Please.
> 
> Major props to my sister, who's a wild The 100 fan and essentially wore down my defenses into writing this over a series of increasingly late nights and increasingly intense AU suggestions that resulted in a tired Casey agreeing to write this and a fully developed AU. Are you happy now Bridget.
> 
> So with each chapter posted, I'll include links to the various dances performed down here, just in case you guys were curious. Here's the selections we made for the auditions of each dancer mentioned in this chapter. Take the dance, not the personality of the dancer used.
> 
> Wells: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f05G2iwpTmg  
> Raven: https://youtu.be/9LGmOzUx3e8?t=477  
> Finn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuWi7WewFsk  
> Clarke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a438sPVlonI


	2. LA Auditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The process in this chapter is going to be much the same as the last chapter, since they're both auditions. The next few chapters will be like this as well, in different cities as we start to get to know the characters. After that, we'll head to Vegas, and the really fun stuff will start.

Anya made sure that she arrived at Lexa’s apartment exactly five minutes before she was supposed to be there to pick her up.  Sure enough, her friend was waiting exactly where she had said she would be (even five minutes early) and wasted no time in hopping into Anya’s car.  Anya waited until she heard Lexa’s dance bag hit the seat behind her, then drove off without a word.  Lexa was one of those people who would talk when she was ready to start a conversation.

And Anya was not awake enough at right now to hold a conversation with someone who didn’t want to be speaking.

Within 15 minutes or so, Lexa broke the silence.  “I’ve seen you preparing your audition recently.  Your practice slot is just before mine.”

Lexa, Anya knew, liked to arrive everywhere early enough to warm up before she even started her hour of practice.  Anya could appreciate that, of course, but Lexa arrived exactly when she intended to, regardless of traffic or location.  It was so impressive Anya secretly suspected she was using sorcery to manipulate the suburban LA traffic to her will.  “Yeah, I’ve seen you come in, and some of your stuff while I was packing up.”

Lexa nodded.  “When you’re up there today, focus on your transitions.  You loose a bit of power when you’re not focusing on them.”

It would have sounded offensive to an outsider, but Anya knew better.  Lexa always meant well if she cared enough to offer her help with something, even if it came off as harsh.  And anyways, Anya knew advice from Lexa was usually worth listening to.  Anyone who spent that much time in the practice studio knew what they were doing enough to give that sort of advice.  With a nod, she answered.  “I will.  Thanks.”

They fell into silence again after that, making the best time on Route 10 that Anya had made practically ever on her way into the city.  To be fair, no one in their right mind was up this early.  In the dead of night, there were only a few cars on the freeway, and they zipped past where Anya normally sat for hours in traffic on her way home from work without a problem.  It was incredibly satisfying.

In the corner of her eye, Anya noticed Lexa stifle a yawn.  “You know you can take a nap if you want to?  I won’t mind.”

Lexa shook her head.  “I’m running through my audition in my head, and trying to remember all the critiques I’ve gotten in the past few weeks.”

Anya shrugged.  “You’ve got it down.  There’ll be plenty of time for that in line and while you’re waiting to audition.  I’ll wake you up when we’re parking.”

After another moment of hesitation, Lexa nodded, conceding to Anya’s argument.  “Fine.  Wake me up before we park.”  She waited for Anya’s murmur of agreement, than shuffled around awkwardly in the seat, tucking her head between the window and the car seat.  With the seat belt under her shoulder and using her arm as a pillow, Lexa dozed off before they were really even inside the city.

____________________________________________________________________________

Flight 407 touched down at LAX International Airport at 2 AM Pacific time, and spat out a swarm of weary travelers from its doors moments after landing.  They trickled out, trudging towards the baggage claim and making it quite clear they’d rather be anywhere else, so long as it involved a soft bed.

Among the dreary passengers were one Jasper Jordan and one Monty Green, who had spent far too long dodging overexcited toddlers, disgruntled businessmen and women, and wannabe actors heading out to LA in hopes of getting their ticket to fame.  By the time they made it to baggage claim, the though of having to dance later that day was almost unimaginable.  There was no way it was going to happen.

Jasper felt something inside of him sink a little lower in weariness when the announcement came over the speaker system saying the bags for their flight had been delayed and would arrive about ten minutes late.  He glanced over at Monty, and saw his best friend’s shoulders sink in a way that told him they felt exactly the same way at the moment.  The tiredness that had hit them was one that could be felt through all his bones, not just in his head, and it looked like Monty had been hit the same way.

He waited until Monty looked up, then met his eyes with an expression that was the physical picture of a whine.  “Dude, what did we do to deserve this?”

Monty shrugged.  “Beats me.  We haven’t even smoked recently.”

Jasper groaned at the reminder.  “You say that like I don’t already know.  Damn, I could use a hit right now.”

“They’re not as chill about it here as they are at home,” Monty muttered, nudging him as the baggage carousel started to rotate.

“God bless Colorado,” Jasper agreed, craning his neck to look for his bag.  He was much taller than Monty, who was peeking over the shoulders of the crowds of people in front of him trying to get a better look.

Monty gave up with a quiet curse under his breath.  An older woman next to him shot him a disapproving look, and he ducked his head in apology and embarrassment for a moment, bright pink, before elbowing Jasper in the ribs.  “Dude, let me piggyback, I’ll look for our bags.  I can’t see anything.”

“No need.”  Jasper shot forward, grabbing two suitcases before returning to his friend’s side.  “That’s yours?”

Monty checked the tag.  “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go get a cab and head to the theater.”

Any other day, Jasper’s voice would have been lit up and ecstatic about the idea of the audition.  Now, he was so tired he could barely convince his feet to move towards the automatic doors.  As the glass slid open, he shot awake to the sudden burst of a warm breeze and the sight of palm trees everywhere, eyes widening slightly.  Monty was equally awestruck, taking in the sight of the trees and the warm breeze with a pleased expression.

“I don’t think we’re in Colorado anymore,” Jasper joked, grinning at the sight around him.

Monty knew it was a joke, but he didn’t have the energy to laugh.  “Did you miss the screaming kids on the plane here?”

Jasper groaned.  “Don’t remind me.”  He pulled up the handle on his bag and tugged Monty down the sidewalk.  “Come on, we need a cab that will take us to the Orpheum.”

While Jasper waved for a cab as well as he knew how to, Monty shook his head, seeming deep in thought.  Jasper glanced over his shoulder, knowing all too well that something was happening in his head, and decided to bite the bullet and ask.  “What’s up, man?”

“Should we really do this today?”  Monty looked nervous, and Jasper was about to tease him for his pre-audition butterflies when he continued.  “I mean, there’s a whole second day we can make.  And I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m about to collapse.  We should get some sleep before they rip us apart, you know?”

Jasper shrugged.  “Ten bucks says they’ll tear us apart either way.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather go out in style, dude.  Dignity in death and all that.”

Jasper was quiet for a moment, thinking.  The hotel they had actually thought ahead enough to book wasn’t expecting them until later today.  They had been planning to sleep once their audition had finished later, and stay a few days before returning home whether or not they made it to Vegas.  It was possible their hotel would let them check in early, but it wasn’t a guarantee.

But Jasper knew Monty had a point.  They were both exhausted, having traveled all day and faced down behemoths like babies on planes, old people stopping them from getting places quickly, and the packing panic when they had realized the day before that they needed to leave in three hours and they still hadn’t finished packing.  There was no way their quality would be up to par today, while if they actually got some sleep it would at least stand a chance.

And if they got those tickets, the whole trip would have been worth it in the end.

He sighed, conceding the point.  “Fine.  Let’s see if the hotel will let us in early.  We’ll sleep today and audition tomorrow.”

By some freak force of nature, Jasper finally managed to hail a cab, and gave him directions to the hotel with a hope that they would have a room for him to sleep in within the next few hours.

___________________________________________________________________________

By 7:30 AM, Lexa was already warming up in line.  The doors to the theater weren’t even open yet.  Dancers were waiting for the hostess of the show, Cat Deeley, to come out and announce that the auditions had begun.  Since they had arrived so early, Anya and Lexa were some of the first dancers in line that morning, and they would be some of the first to see when Cat appeared with the keys to the kingdom.

It also meant they would be some of the first dancers to audition that day.

Lexa saw no point in wasting time, ever.  If they were going to be some of the first dancers to perform, she would need to be loose and ready, which meant warming up in line.  She would probably warm up in the wings if she had time, too, but for now, the warm up was a guarantee that she would at least get some time before her audition to prepare.

Her nervous energy seemed to be rubbing off on everyone around her.  The other dancers near them in line had glanced over at Anya and Lexa as the latter had begun to stretch, and had nervously begun to do the same.  It was as if she was sending a message to the rest of the audition candidates that it was time to prepare and step up their game to match her.

Anya almost wished she could see how far down the line Lexa’s stretching cue had traveled so far.  Unless it got blocked by a group of breakers circling up beyond the corner, it would probably continue back unchecked for a while.  It was sort of impressive, when she really thought about it.

Lexa immediately snapped to attention alongside Anya when a familiar blonde appeared, armed with a megaphone and stilettos.

“Hello LA!  Are you ready to show us what you’ve got?” Cat Deeley’s voice called out, amplified and distorted by the bullhorn she was shouting into.  A cheer chorused down the line, and the hostess grinned.  “Well then come on inside and let’s get dancing!”

The doors opened up, and Lexa grabbed Anya’s arm, tugging her along as she made a beeline for one of the registration tables.  Anya pulled free, but followed her nonetheless.  She had no problem sticking with her studio friend, but she drew the line at being dragged around like a rag doll.  She could walk for herself, and it wasn’t that difficult to find her friends in a crowd.

Lexa and Anya pinned their numbers onto their dance uniforms after signing a bunch of paperwork.  Anya still wasn’t quite sure of everything she had just agreed to, but if the rest of the dancers that had already won the show had survived, she supposed it couldn’t be that bad.  Probably TV Waivers and other things like that.

Oh, the joys of adulthood.  Paperwork.

Anya glanced down at the number on her hip.  8077.  Seeing the show’s logo, and feeling the cool safety pins keeping the number in place made the reality of what was happing suddenly hit her, and she took a deep breath.  She had made it to the show.  She was going to audition.  And she was going to prove that being about to hit the age of 30 wasn’t going to stop her from being one of the best dancers out there.

Lexa, likewise, had pinned on her number and seemed to be taking a moment to take it all in.  With her eyes closed, she almost looked like she was meditating, Anya realized.  Suddenly, they snapped open, and Lexa nodded like she had reached some conclusion with herself.  “Let’s go,” she said, striding away and towards the theater doors.  “I want to get good seats so I can see the competition.

Coming from anyone else, it could have been a joke.  Coming from Lexa, Anya knew it was a fairly serious undertaking.  Lexa liked to know her competition.

With a shrug, she headed for the doors, and they tucked themselves into seats.  Lexa would be up and about soon enough, Anya knew, practicing for her 10:30 AM audition, but for now they could observe the other dancers as they warmed up and prepared for the Judges to take their places.

__________________________________________________________________________

10:30 came faster than Lexa had expected it would.  She was almost taken by surprise when she heard the judges call her name, but recovered almost instantly.  Straightening her shoulders and leveling her chin, she made her way up to the stage like a warrior conquering new territory.  With a calm, laser focus, she faced the judges head on.  It felt for a moment as if she was challenging them to say no to her, and she could see in their eyes they almost wanted to take a step back.

Finally, Nigel cleared his throat, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair.  “Well, hello.  What’s your name?”

“I’m Lexa.”

“And where are you from, dear?”

Lexa resisted the urge to roll her eyes when she heard his “dear”.  “Just outside the city, in Willowbrook.”

“Not too far from home, then. Alright, and what style will you be dancing in today?”

“Jazz.”

Nigel sat back, putting down the paperwork in front of him.  She recognized her handwriting, and realized it was her registration forms. As he took off his glasses, he smiled up at her.  “Well, I can’t wait to see it.”

Without another word, Lexa nodded, immediately moving to take her position at the center stage. She waited a moment, taking one last deep calming breath before she heard Nigel call out, “And… cue music.”

Lexa focused on her fluidity at first, slinking towards the judges with a sexy and powerful stride. She paired it with a confident smirk, as if she knew she could already go all the way to the finale. After the first few seconds, however, her focus changed from slinking and sexy to sharp and powerful.

The isolation of her shoulders traveled all through her body after the first few motions, making it seem as if every motion she made in her dance was a punch thrown in a graceful battle.  She paused between each series of snaps and hits, allowing that fluidity to shine through without becoming the complete focus of her audition.

It created a contrast that left the judges gasping, impressing even jazz choreographer Sonya Tayeh. Almost like she was hearing through a wall, Lexa caught Mary Murphy’s quiet, “Wow, she’s strong,” and the murmurs of agreement that followed it from the other judges.

She threw an ariel and immediately rolled out of it, eliciting a few cheers from the audience at the athletic display.  As if she hadn’t heard them, Lexa smoothly transitioned into a powerful strut, taking a few steps before twisting back into the brief fluidity all her transitions contained. The texture difference was enough to stun the audience as she leapt forward in a lunge, expression confident and almost hungry.  Launching herself back up to her feet and forwards, she spun into the last motion, holding her finishing pose as the music died out around her.

Cheers went up from all across the audience as she found her way back towards the microphone. The judges, likewise, were applauding, joining in with the crowd before shuffling themselves around in order to prepare their critiques. 

Nigel was first, clearing his throat and nodding to himself. “Uh, wow, Lexa,” he began. “That was absolutely stunning. You took absolute control of that stage, and your dynamic motions… I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Wow.”

“I have to agree,” Mary jumped in.  “I think there’s a lot of power in you.  But there’s also that star quality that makes us want to keep watching you to see what’s coming next. I loved it.”

Sonya spoke next. “Your transitions were gorgeous, your textures were gorgeous, and everything about the way you dance jazz is stunning.  I loved it. I absolutely loved it.”

“I guess you’d better come and get your ticket, then,” Nigel laughed, waving the ticket to Vegas up in the air.  While the audience applauded, Lexa finally offered a genuine smile, jogging down the stage stairs to retrieve her ticket to potential fame.

__________________________________________________________________________

After Lexa’s success earlier, Anya was feeling less nervous than she had been before. If someone from their studio could get to Vegas, so could she.  With that in mind, she squared her shoulders and made her way up to the stage as her name was called, ready to attack her audition.

Nigel was ready for her, and she offered him a slight smile.  “Hello.”

“Hello, darling. What’s your name?”

“I’m Anya Lachman.”

“And how old are you, Anya?”

“I’m 29 years old.”

Nigel nodded in understanding. “You’ve been dancing for a long time, I imagine, then?”

She nodded. “Over 20 years.”

He smiled, and she could tell from his expression that he was impressed. “That’s dedication. This says here you’ll be performing some contemporary for us today?”

She nodded. “Yes I will.”

“Well I’d love to see it.”

She nodded, backing up onto the stage and taking her position, waiting patiently for Nigel’s call of, “Cue music!”

Anya’s audition was focused on using her whole body to complete each motion, not just stopping it at the shoulder or knee.  Instead, the wave of an arm translated into a ripple of her core as she opened up her routine. It was almost as if it had been choreographed to imitate a chain reaction, with one motion setting off the next almost instantaneously.

Ending her opening, she leapt softly into the air and landed in a split, drawing a quiet “Ooh!” from the crowd. With the burst of confidence that gave her, she rolled up onto her feet, immediately translating that energy into a pirouette.  She could feel her form align, and with a confident smirk, released the motion.

Crossing the stage, she leapt into the air once again.  It wasn’t as high as she had hoped, but it set her up better for the next transition than she had planned.  Lexa’s words about watching her transitions came to mind, and she was glad she had adjusted this one, even as unintentionally as it had been.  It seemed to work, judging by the reactions she was hearing from the crowd.

Anya launched into a series of powerful arm motions, taking a few moments to recognize that Nigel was cutting the music off.  She had been so involved in the dance that she had almost detached from what was happening around her.  Shaking her head a bit, she found her way over to the microphone.

Sonya started the judging off. “Your technique is wonderful, and there’s a definite strength behind everything.  You have a purpose for each motion.  It’s wonderful.  I would have liked to see more in some places, like your jumps, but your pirouette was beautiful.”

Nigel nodded. “I agree completely. There are some things, but your technique is outstanding, and I can see your experience in your motions. You know what these motions should be.”

With Mary in agreement, the three decided to send her to choreography later in the day. It wasn’t a definite yes, but it wasn’t a no, and Anya was satisfied.  Thanking the judges, she found her way off the stage to where Lexa was sitting.

“Looks like you’ll have to find another ride home,” she said, shrugging a bit.  “I’ll be here until choreography is finished.”

Lexa shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else to do today. I’ll stick around and see how it goes.”

Anya smiled at her, grateful for the subtle display of support, and fell into the chair next to her to watch the rest of the dancers auditioning that day.

__________________________________________________________________________

The choreography, Anya discovered, was a mixture of Jazz and Ballroom.  She got the hang of it easier than she had thought she would. He partner, Gustus, was nice enough, and was picking up the choreography surprisingly well for an untrained Breaker. With the size of his biceps, it wasn’t as if he had any trouble lifting her.  The choreography was fairly easy, but that’s what they needed for an hour’s worth of time to learn and practice it.

With the 20 minutes they were given to practice on their own, Anya and Gustus spent time trying to make the piece their own.  They threw in a few things that would allow them to stand out without completely changing the choreography.  Instead, they highlighted the tone of it, extending a motion a bit more or adding a hand on a hip.

It paid off when it was time to face the judges.  Despite being in the back left corner, both she and Gustus were obviously noticed. The judges liked what they had seen from them, and sent them both to Vegas. 

Anya thanked her partner, telling him she would see him in Vegas in a few months before hunting down her dance bag and friend.  As it turned out, Lexa was waiting by the door with her bag, ready to hit the rode. After a quick shot for the cameras with the dancers that made it through choreography holding their tickets out in triumph, the two girls were on their way back outside of the city, tickets in hand to take them to the next stage of the competition.

__________________________________________________________________________

Day Two of auditions found Jasper and Monty much better rested than the previous evening, and ready to dance.  They arrived to an already growing line, finding the end and leaning up against the brick wall of the building.  It already stretched around the theater, so they had no way of seeing when the doors would open.

Instead of worrying about that, the pair got friendly with the street crew in line in front of them. The crew, Electric Beat, was fairly well known within the LA Street Dance scene.  With three of its members auditioning, the whole gang had come out to support them. 

After some encouragement, Jasper convinced them to start up a circle, and before he knew it, a whole group of people had gathered around to show off their chops. What had started as a tricking show had ended up with a contemporary girl dropping into a split out of a spin, a jazz dancer leaping into a straddle jump over her friend, and even with some more… interesting moves from one of the more amateur contestants.

Time flew by after that. A camera that had been panning down the line stopped to catch some of their circle halfway through Jasper’s improve tap and into when he tagged Monty in.  They didn’t notice the addition of a camera man into their circle, though, until he let out a loud “Woah!” when one of the men from Electric Beat threw a B-Twist from a standstill to start off his tricking.

A few minutes more, and the line was moving.  Jasper made sure to stick close to Monty, and they signed up as closely as they could to each other. Somehow, they managed to end up with audition spots one right after the other, albeit later in the afternoon. Figuring they were already there, they took seats in the back of the theater, deciding to watch the other dancers from that day rather than screw around out back for a few hours. It was the kind of boring decision Monty’s parents would be proud of them for making, Jasper reasoned, and he took his seat as the first girl made her way up to the stage.

__________________________________________________________________________

Before he knew it, Monty’s audition time was almost there.  He had been stretching nervously in the wings, and he felt Jasper squeeze his shoulders just as his name was called.  “You’ll do great, Mont.  Knock their socks off or something.”

Monty offered him a weak smile before stumbling his way up to the stage.  He nearly tripped over a chair before he made it to the stairs, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he made his way over to the microphone.

“Hello young man, how are you today?” Nigel asked, peering over the rim of his reading glasses at him.

Monty swallowed. “I’m alright, thank you sir. And yourself?”

“I’m quite well, thanks. What’s your name?”

“I’m Monty Green.”

“And how old are you, Monty Green?”

“I turned 19 a few weeks ago.”

Nigel smiled up at him. “Well, happy belated birthday. Uh, this says here you’ll be dancing ballet for us, is that correct?”

Monty nodded. “It is,” he replied, biting back a laugh as Sonya’s eyes widened and Mary’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Well I absolutely can’t wait to see it,” Nigel answered with a surprised laugh, putting the paperwork down as Monty nodded and stepped back to take up his starting position. Once he could tell Monty was ready, Nigel called out, “Cue music!”

Monty launched immediately into a display of flexibility, pulling his knee up to level with his nose before leaping back and transitioning into a split.  With the gasp of surprise from Sonya egging him on, he crawled into a contortion that left his foot pointing in one direction while the rest of him pointed in the other. 

Mary’s yelp of surprise had him biting back a smile and forcing himself to tune out the audience as he spun out and away from the position, back up onto his feet. Leaping to demonstrate his height, spinning to demonstrate his technique, and folding himself every which way possible, his audition was a testament to the best of his abilities as a dancer.

Throwing in a few rond de jambes, he quickly transitioned into a split leap, using it to propel him across the stage.  With a few motions that demonstrated his strength as a dancer as well as his fluidity and technique, he transitioned into a huge pirouette.  Leaping out of it to a cheer from the audience, he finished his audition moments later, and was met by a burst of applause from both the judges and the other dancers in the audience.

“That was quite a show, young man,” Nigel laughed as Monty made his way over to the microphone. “You’re very talented. Your technique is impeccable; your presence is strong... I have very little to say.”

Mary was in agreement. Monty could see on her face that she was about to start yelling in excitement, and winced a bit as the shrillness of her scream hit him.  “That was outstanding!” she yelped, and he smiled meekly and thanked her. “You are such a star up there. Keep it up like that and you’ll be on the Hot Tamale Train without a doubt this season!”

He turned bright red, and Sonya swooped in, saving him from any more yelling.  “I thought your technique was stunning.  You’re obviously very well trained, and it shows. I’d like to see more of your personality come through a bit, but even that’s picky.  You truly are a sight to behold.”

As Monty blushed and thanked them all profusely, Nigel waved at him with a careless hand. “Oh, come on over here and get your ticket, you already know you got one.”

Later, Jasper would show Monty the picture he had snapped of the realization dawning on his face that he had passed the audition round with high praise from the judges and made it to Vegas, but for now, it was all Monty could do to get down the stairs without tripping.  Jasper had always joked about how he didn’t understand how someone so graceful while he was dancing could trip over his own two feet so frequently, after all.

__________________________________________________________________________

After Monty’s success, Jasper barely had time to hug him and congratulate him before he was being called up to the stage himself.  With an easy grin, he ruffled his friend’s hair and hugged him tightly as he passed him in the aisle.

This didn’t escape Nigel’s attention.  “Do you two know each other?” he asked, and Jasper nodded, grinning.

“That’s my best friend,” he replied, prouder than ever to say that after Monty’s audition.

“So you must be a ballet dancer too, then?”

Jasper laughed, shaking his head.  “I’m a tapper.”

Nigel’s eyes widened. “Oh.  That’s a little different from ballet.”

“Yeah, it is,” Jasper agreed. “I try to tell him it’s better, but he’s refused to listen.”

“Well, I’m rather biased, so I won’t throw in my two cents,” Nigel chuckled, turning back to his paperwork. “You must be Jasper, then.”

“I am, yup.”

“And how old are you, Jasper?”

“I’m 19. Older than Monty is,” he grinned, finding Monty in the audience and wiggling his eyebrows in his direction.

Nigel laughed. “I’m sure that means you’re so much more mature, too.  Where are you both from?”

“Elbert, Colorado. It’s like, between Denver and Colorado Springs?  But East of them?” Jasper replied, trying to describe it.

Nigel nodded. “Alright, well I can’t wait to see you tap for us.”

With a grin and a salute, Jasper found his way to the center of the stage to take his starting position, chuckling as he caught Sonya’s quiet, “They have totally different personalities, don’t they?”

As soon as Nigel called for the music and the first notes were leaving the speakers, Jasper was in motion. Starting with a pirouette that carried him around a few times, he dropped into place after a mere few bars and immediately launched into his taps.  His feet buzzed in place, creating a constant, vibrating rhythm that traveled throughout the crowd. 

His audition was fast paced and fun, and the delight Jasper was feeling was infectious. It quickly spread through the crowd, and they laughed at each bit of slipped in humor or cheered at each trick, enjoying themselves almost as much as he seemed to.

Jasper used every possible part of the tap shoe for a different sound each time.  His feet were flicking all over the place, bouncing on the sides and toes and heels and balls in order to create as many interesting sounds as possible to match the frantic trumpets.  His leaps and switches drew out cheers from the crowd, and his brief pause drew out a “whoop!” from someone. 

With a grin, Jasper threw in a goofy face before sashaying across the stage, dancing briefly on the tips of his toes before completing his circuit to face the judges, and offer a bow. The audience, grins of every face, met him with loud applause, as did the judges.  With a sigh of relief, Jasper realized it had gone well.

Once everyone was settled, Nigel began his critiques. 

“Well, that was a lot of fun, wasn’t it!”  The audience cheered once again, and he waited for them to quiet before continuing. “I really enjoyed watching you dance. There’s something infectious about the joy you have while dancing that makes everyone else in the room want to experience what you are, and that’s something remarkable.  I will caution you, though.  Tap needs to have those breaks for the audience to take in the rhythm, and as impressive as the speeds your feet can reach are, I would advise you to take a few moments here and there to slow down your taps and let the audience appreciate the rhythms.”

Jasper nodded, committing the critique to memory as Mary continued.  “I think Nigel hit the nail on the head there.  There was a lot going on, but I really loved watching you. Your personality comes out when you dance like a ray of sunshine.”

“It’s just so much fun to watch you have fun doing what you so obviously love,” Sonya agreed.

“So it’s a yes to choreography for me,” Nigel suggested.  With approval from the other two judges, Jasper was sent off to where Monty waited, given a few hours before the choreography round began to rest. Monty met him with a grin and a hug, ready to help him prepare for his second chance to earn the ticket to Vegas.

“Come on, you,” he grinned, “Let’s get you ready.  The casinos aren’t gonna be any fun if you’re not there, so if you screw up this choreography, I’ll kill you.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Jasper struggled a bit in the beginning with the choreography, having rarely done any sort of partner work, but once he had the steps down he found it easier to just focus on what he had to do to lift his partner.  The girl, Charlotte, seemed to struggle with the choreography even more than he was, so he tried his best to help her out as much as he could when they practiced. She was young, just barely 18, but she seemed nice enough.

They had the bad luck of being one of the groups in the front, and for once, Jasper was actually nervous. What if he didn’t get the ticket? He and Monty did everything together. What would happen if one of them made it and the other didn’t?

Before he could worry about that for too long, the music was starting, and he focused in completely on what he had to do.  He worked as hard as he could to support Charlotte as well as himself, since it was apparent how nervous she was, and they made it through the choreography mostly intact and feeling alright.  With a high five, they stepped back into line while the judges decided who to keep and who to send home.

When Charlotte was called forward, she was informed that they would not be taking her this year. Jasper’s stomach immediately knotted, especially as they called his name next.  This was it.  He was alright with cheering Monty on from the sidelines, he realized, but he would so be going to Vegas with him and cheering him on from there if he had to.

Luckily, Nigel told him, he wouldn’t have to.  There was a ticket waving in the air with his name on it, and suddenly it was in his hand and Monty was hugging him and Nigel was telling the pair they would see them in Vegas and everything was looking pretty good.

After all, there were casinos calling with their names on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm actually not a dancer. If anyone wants to give me technical advice for this, I am more than open to edits and suggestions. Please.
> 
> Once again, my sister Bridget gets Beta props and also encouragement props from me because she pushed me into writing this and now you're all stuck with it. 
> 
> One small note: I used Anya's actress's last name for her character on my sister's suggestion. I probably won't do that for everyone, but if the need arises and you see a last name for a character that doesn't canonically have a last name, chances are I'll use the actor or actress's last name so long as it fits.
> 
> And, of course, the links to the auditions for this week:
> 
> Lexa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8USPQtbueM  
> Anya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIVin4Ft8rc  
> Monty: https://youtu.be/HbCME-t9YeI?t=310  
> Jasper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sy-hGU-Aa0


	3. Detroit Auditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another city, and more dancers with something to prove.

Octavia was ready to sit on her brother if it would make him stop pacing.  2 AM was way too early for anyone to have to deal with his nervous energy, least of all when she had enough of her own to worry about. She especially didn’t need his wakeup call this early in the morning, not when they didn’t have to leave for another few hours.

Between his muttering about showering so that they would be ready to leave in time, she managed to squeeze in a “Bell,” loud enough that he stopped talking long enough to look at her.  She raised an eyebrow and continued.  “It’s 2 in the morning. The theater is 20 minutes away. I’m going back to bed before I get the energy I need to strangle you.”

He seemed to freeze mid thought before finally looking at the clock.  A quiet “Oh,” slipped out, and he nodded a few times. “Uh, right.  We have a few hours.”

Rolling her eyes, Octavia ducked back under her covers.  “Don’t bother coming in, I have an alarm set.  You’re my brother and I love you, but if I see your face before 4:30 I’ll slap you.”

“Right,” he grunted, stumbling his way out of her room in the dark.  She groaned, flopping back over and hoping she would be able to get a bit more sleep before she would have to get up again.  Unbelievable.

__________________________________________________________________________

Lincoln woke to a dog tongue up his nose, and the sound of his alarm going off.  With a grunt, he ducked out from underneath his dogs, fumbling around for his phone to shut off the nagging beeping.  As he opened the screen, though, he caught sight of the time, and froze.

Suddenly, he was wide-awake. Shit, how long had that alarm been going off for?  He needed to leave in 15 minutes if he wanted a shot at making it into today’s auditions. The dogs followed him into the bathroom as he yanked on his dance clothes, tugging his shirt over his head while grappling for his toothbrush.

Lily whined at his feet, and he rolled his eyes a bit, spitting into the sink before nodding at her. “Alright, alright, food. You can eat in the car, ok?” She darted off, Diego following after her, and he chuckled to himself a bit before dashing to throw his things into his dance bag.

As he ran out the door, the dogs followed him, and he just remembered to grab their leashes before he made it out the door and locked it.  Mentally, he made a checklist, throwing his bag in the trunk and ushering the dogs into the backseat.

Dogs, check.

Dog food, check.

Dance bag, containing a change of clothes, music, and water and food.  Check.

Leashes. Check.

Birth certificate. Check.

(Hey, he didn’t know what they needed to let you on a big TV show).

Audition forms, check.

Wallet, keys, phone, Check.

He was good to go.

Pouring a scoop of dog food into two dishes and putting them in the back seat, he jammed the key into his ignition, pulling out onto the street and taking off for the biggest audition he had ever been to.

__________________________________________________________________________

By the time they were picking up Lilly, Bellamy had regained his suave, composed exterior. To anyone but his sister, he seemed completely at ease, maybe even a bit too cocksure. To his sister, he was a nervous wreck inside wrapped up in an attempt at a bad boy.

Lilly met her eyes in the mirror and raised an eyebrow as Bellamy pulled back out onto the road. Octavia nodded, and she rolled her eyes, reaching over to punch him.  “You know you can drop the tough guy act, Bell.  You’re not fooling anyone, least of all us.”

He shushed her, brushing her hand off his shoulder.  “I can’t betray my cool exterior to the judges.  I can’t be that guy that’s a nervous wreck and trips over his own feet.” Looking up from the road to meet his sisters eyes, he took on a look of indignation at her doubtful expression. “Hey, this is a judgment free car. You don’t like it, you can walk.”

She laughed. “Fine, fine.  Looks like you’ve got that tough guy act down alright.” Lilly held a hand back behind her to high five Octavia in the back seat, and Bellamy pouted, pulling into a parking garage a few blocks away from the theater.

Once the car was parked, everything that was about to happen seemed twice as real.  Everyone’s cool exterior faltered momentarily as they realized exactly what they were about to go through.  This was going to be one of the toughest auditions of their life. It could set them up for a career in dance… or it could damn any prospective career.

All right, so maybe not that dramatic a result, but it wasn’t as if anyone was thinking straight at the moment anyways.

Bellamy cleared his throat and pulled open his door.  It seemed to jolt the whole car into motion, and suddenly the parking garage was a flurry of 5 AM action, reaching for dance bags and CD’s and bananas and water bottles, making sure they had everything.  By the time they had gotten themselves together, the nerves had been lost in a flurry of action, and the race down the parking garage stairs and to the street was almost giddy.

__________________________________________________________________________

Emori was too tired to possibly survive without coffee this early in the morning, but here she was, and there was no coffee in sight.  Instead, she was surrounded by a bunch of contemporary dancers wearing the same sports bras and holding the same dance bags. 

She’d grown up around those sort of dancers.  She’d wanted something more, and she’d gone and gotten it.  This was her chance to prove that her “something more” wasn’t a stain on the family’s dance tradition and honor. 

She refused to be that contemporary girl.  She didn’t have to be, not when she had something totally new and exciting to bring to the table.

The lack of coffee, though, was killer.  Really, it was torture, watching everyone else in line with their travel mugs.  She knew she should have stopped and picked some up on the way in, but she didn’t want to arrive too late, and hadn’t risked it. It probably would have been worth the five minute detour, she was realizing.

At least then she’d be awake.

With a yawn, Emori stretched a bit, trying to loosen herself up before it was time to head into the theater. She had a few hours, she knew, but it didn’t hurt to stay loose in line this whole time.  With that in mind, she decided to run through a few isolations. She knew she would stand out today (it wasn’t often that a girl auditioned as an animator), but she would rather be remembered for her isolations than for her lack of skill.

Running an almost glitch-y motion across her arms like the wave, Emori continued to run through her isolations, focusing on each motion from her arms and legs and making them as robotic as possible.  After a while, she heard a whoop behind her.  Turning around, a bit startled, she noticed a few guys watching her warm up. She smiled, and one of them applauded as she gave a little bow.

“Damn, girl. Where’d you learn to animate like that?” he asked with a grin.

She shrugged.  “Picked it up here and there.”

“Those are some serious locks.” The guy looked impressed, and an idea seemed to cross his face as it lit up.  “Hey, you ever done any battles?”

She shrugged. “A few.”

“We’ve got some time. I know my guys here want to warm up a bit.  Wanna have some fun back and forth?” he offered, spreading his hands in front of him. She grinned, and the gang of guys circled up.

Battles were fun. To Emori, it felt more like an exchange of skills than anything else.  Battling another dancer, especially one in your style, could teach you a lot about what you were missing in your technique.  Even if you lost, you could come out of it with something better than it was before.  With that in mind, she watched the first challenger as he animated, taking note of the way he manipulated certain joints.

She tailored her answer to his challenge to reflect what she had picked up off him, adding in a few of her own tricks to give him back something.  The boys circled around them whooped in excitement, and she grinned, backing out as two new challengers took the center of the circle. For the next hour or so, it was an in again, out again exchange.  Their circle grew in size, and eventually a camera found its way to film the B-Boy spinning in the center.

When he ducked out, Emori made her way over to him.  “That was really cool,” she laughed, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

He ducked his head and grinned. “Thanks.  You’re not so bad yourself.  I always wanted to try animation.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t have the patience. B-Boying is more fun. It’s explosive, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess. If you ever want to animate, just let me know,” she joked.

“Same to you, if you want to spin on your head on the concrete,” he laughed back, holding out a hand. “I’m Atom.”

She extended her own. “Emori.”

“Can I ask why your hand is all covered up?” he asked, pointing to the wrap she had over her left hand.

She shrugged, used to explaining it after a few years.  “Only if after you’ll tell me what kind of a name Atom is.”

“Deal.”

She unwrapped her bandages, and sighed a bit as she watched his eyes go wide.  “Yeah, I know.  It’s not an illness, and I didn’t do it to myself.  It was a birth defect.  I was born with my fingers fused together.”

“How the hell does something like that happen?” he asked, hesitantly reaching out to touch her hand when she held it out to him.

She shrugged. “Beats me.  But hey, it makes doing the Live Long And Prosper sign a lot easier.”

He laughed. “A fellow Star Trek nerd. I’m liking you more and more, Emori.”

“So what, are you a nerd too? Is that where the name comes from?” she asked, wrapping her hand back up before anyone else could see.

He shrugged. “It’s sorta a long story.” She glanced up briefly, and he turned to rummage around in his bag.  “Hang on, let me just…”  After a moment, he pulled out a pen and scrap of paper, and balanced on one knee, scribbling something onto it.  “This is my real name,” he explained, shoving the paper under her nose.

After she got a good glimpse, Emori frowned immediately in confusion.  “What the… Is your handwriting really shitty, or does that say, like…”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about trying to pronounce it, I can barely do it some days.  Atom is my street name.  It’s easier to go by that.”

She raised an eyebrow, tying off the last bandage.  “Did your parents hate you or something?”

He chuckled. “Nah, they were just both… Well, my mom was very traditional, and my dad was very creative.  You can see how that turned out.”

She snatched the paper back from him.  “I’m gonna figure out how to pronounce this,” she told him, squinting down at it as if looking closer would force the letters to reveal their pronunciation secrets.

“Good fucking luck,” he grunted.  “Many have tried, few have succeeded.  Much like the auditions today, I guess.”

“Good thing I’ll be acing both.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Lincoln arrived in line with his dogs with plenty of time to spare. At first, the other contestants were too tired to really register the two extra bodies with him, but as the sun rose higher in the sky, he gained more and more attention from people who would come up to him just to ask if they could pet his dogs.

Well, the dogs gained attention.  And they were lapping up every second of it.

After the last girl walked away, Lily looked up at him, tongue hanging out of her mouth happily, and he rolled his eyes.  “Attention hog.  You’re getting so spoiled today,” he grunted, scratching her and Diego behind the ears. She sighed happily, flopping against his leg.

He had adopted Lily three years ago, when she was three. The local animal shelter had been looking for volunteers to walk their dogs during the day, and Lincoln had been between jobs at the time.  By the end of two weeks, the Pit Bull had captured his heart, and he had fallen in love. Within the next week he had adopted her.

It had been just him and his girl for a year, until his neighbor’s Chihuahua had given birth to an unexpected litter of puppies.  After confirming that Lily was indeed spayed, he found himself dog sitting while his neighbor was out picking up supplies.  He fell in love with one of the puppies over the next six weeks, and Diego had been with them ever since.

His dogs were his family, and there was no way they were staying home for his big audition.  Everybody always brought their family to cheer them on in there.  Moms, dads, uncles, and grandparents… come to think of it, no one had ever brought dogs in.

Which, he was beginning to realize, probably had something to do with the fact theaters don’t like to have animals inside them.

Well shit.

Just as he was putting the dots together, Cat Deeley appeared, megaphone in hand, to call the crowd of dancers forward and let them into the theater in order to register to audition.  Shit. He couldn’t bring them into the theater itself, he knew, but maybe they would let him wait with them in the lobby until it was time to audition if he could find someone to watch them for him while he auditioned?

By some miracle, the theater’s owner was sympathetic, and she let him stand out in the lobby with his dogs, waiting for his audition time to begin. She warned him that the dogs would have to be supervised at all times, and he agreed wholeheartedly, knowing the sort of strings she was pulling to let him even bring them inside. It was perfectly reasonable for her to ask him to find someone to watch the dogs while he auditioned.

Now all that was left, of course, was to find someone willing to do so.

__________________________________________________________________________

Once he had gotten signed in and the number had been pinned to his chest, it hit Bellamy just how soon he and Lilly would be performing.  Two dancers ahead of them, then it was showtime.  That’s what he got for arriving as early as he did to get in line, he supposed.

They warmed up in the wings the way they always did.  Lilly threw a leg over his shoulder, and he raised it up until it was almost vertical before doing the same to the other side.  He stretched his arms over his head, tilting to one side, then the other. Before they knew it, they were being called up to the stage. 

Bellamy squeezed her hand, then rushed in front of her to help her up the steps to the stage. Ballroom heels, he knew, could be incredibly unforgiving on staircases.  They made their way to the microphone, and Bellamy remembered at the last second not to drop his cool exterior.

Some of the cockiness faded away when he caught Octavia’s eye in the audience, though. Just in time, he relaxed a bit, hearing Nigel start to speak as he returned back to something resembling a bit more his personality.

“Hello there you two,” the head judge said.  They both smiled their way through a few “Good morning’s” and “How are you’s” before he continued speaking.  “What’s your names, then?”

“I’m Lilly, and this is my partner Bellamy,” she introduced.  Nigel nodded.

“Nice to meet you, Lilly and Bellamy.  Have you two been partners for long?”

They glanced at each other, and Bellamy shrugged, turning back to the judges.  “A few years.  Maybe two? It’s been a little while. We train at the same studio, that’s how we know each other.”

“And I take it you’ll be performing some ballroom for us today?”

Lilly grinned. “Of course.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.”

Lilly and Bellamy thanked the judges, then settled themselves in their starting positions. They waited for Nigel’s call of “Cue music!” then began their audition.

Starting with a sexy stride forward, they counted the beats, matching each turn afterwards perfectly with the music so that Lilly’s big dip would happen exactly on beat. Drawing out a few oohs and ahhs from the crowd, the dancers confidence grew.  If the intro to their dance could be so engaging and successful, there was hope still for the rest of it.

They had developed the routine to showcase Lilly’s incredible turns.  They were tight and flashy, and drew the right kind of attention to their steps.  Bellamy focused on posture and chemistry, drawing them as closely to the perfect ballroom couple as he could. 

Each of them knew footwork was their strongest point.  As a result, their choreography was by far one of the more technically challenging ballroom auditions to hit the stage of the show.  Their feet seemed to flick off the stage, the speed at which they could move them so flashy it stunned the judges.

Bellamy lifted his partner into an incredible lift, holding her above his head to a gasped “oh!” from the audience.  They fell back into the pattern of quick and light footwork, pausing only to balance Lilly away from him enough that she could completely extend her leg straight up. He spun her back towards him, and with a more classical approach in their finish, they were done.

The cheers rose up almost immediately from the audience, and Bellamy and Lilly high-fived, heading towards the judges and awaiting their critiques.

Mary spoke first. “Lilly, you definitely just earned yourself a ticket to the Hot Tamale Train!” she screamed, triggering an eruption of cheering from the audience.  Lilly grinned, thanking her profusely, before Nigel picked up the commentary.

“That was definitely something,” he agreed.  “I’d like to see more of what you can do yourself, young man, but my goodness! Lilly, you were on fire out there!”

Mia Michaels, the third judge of the Detroit auditions, took over.  “I definitely would like to see more of what you’re capable of. That routine definitely showcased what she could do, now I want to see what Bellamy can do.”

Sending Bellamy to choreography, Lilly picked up her ticket to Vegas as they both headed offstage, rejoining Octavia in the audience.  Bellamy acted casual about the whole thing, knowing they just wanted to see more of him as an individual, but even his cool exterior couldn’t deny the pit settling in the bottom of his stomach at the thought of having to wait through the whole day to find out what would happen in choreography later that evening. Somehow, he’d make it. He had to.

__________________________________________________________________________

Before he knew it, Atom was up. He made his way up to the stage at the sound of something that was likely supposed to be his given name, waving the announcer off as if to tell him not to even worry about trying.

There was a reason he went by Atom.

Nigel squinted down at the paperwork in front of him as Atom made his way to the microphone. “ _What_ is your name, young man?”  It was quite obviously a very different question from what he had asked every other contestant to set foot on the stage that day.

Atom sighed internally. “I go by Atom,” he explained.

“Adam?”

“Atom. Like the molecule.”

Nigel looked relieved, if a bit confused.  “Where did you get that from?”

Atom shrugged. “I’m a nerd, and I needed a street name. Something better to go by that was easier for people to pronounce.”

“So I don’t have to call you…” Nigel trailed off, frowning down at the paperwork in front of him with Atom’s information on it.

"No, no, don’t worry about it. I won’t make you pronounce it or anything.”

“Good, good.” The other judges were craning their necks trying to see what was on the paperwork, and Nigel shooed them away. “Get off, you’ll see later. Right now we’re here to watch this young man dance.  What style will you be dancing for us today?” he asked.

 “Uh, hip hop. I’m a B-Boy.”

“Well, we can’t wait to see it, Atom.”  Nigel set the paperwork down, and Atom nodded, grateful for the chance to finally dance rather than discuss his name.  With that in mind to focus himself, he stepped back into his starting position and waited for Nigel’s call of “Cue music!”

His start had a very goofy, classic hip-hop feel to it.  Atom loved the videos of all the old hip hop street performers, with their boom boxes and backwards caps, and it showed.  The goofy vibe wasn’t a dismissal of his skill, though, which he proved by popping into a handstand and effortlessly pushing himself into a kipup out of it, pausing once more in another handstand. 

The oohs from the crowd almost fed him energy, and it felt like just another street performance suddenly. As he went into a section based a bit more on animation, he let his personality come through.  The goofy, playful attitude was met with sounds of delight from the judges as he focused on his isolations before switching back to a more fluid motion.  

He flipped up into a handstand, kicking around jovially to the laughter from the audience before neatly flipping down into a bored posture, belly on the stage, and kicking around in the same manner down below, to even more sounds of delight. Popping in one more classic B-Boy pose, he fell into a section of knee turns before leaping up into a series of hops. One more backflip onto his stomach in that same bored position from before seemed to seal the deal with the judges. Nigel cut the music, and the audience cheered as he made his way to the stage.

“Well aren’t you just a little ball of fun!” Mary shouted, triggering a grin from Atom. “You’re so delightful to watch dance. It makes all of us want to smile right along with you.”

“We were dancing in our seats up here, grinning because we were watching you have fun up there,” Mia continued.  “That doesn’t happen often.”

“I think you’ve got an exceptional personality, and I love how it comes through your dance. I’d like to see how you take on some choreography, and I think you’ll do very well with that sort of performance ability,” Nigel finished.  With an agreement from the other two judges, Atom was sent to choreography. He thanked the judges, then made his way off the stage, seeking out his dance bag in preparation and very purposefully not looking back at the judging table as Nigel shared his paperwork with the other two judges as they tried to decipher his name.

__________________________________________________________________________

Emori was working very hard to keep up her cool exterior as she heard her name called up to the stage an hour or so after Atom’s performance.  With a deep breath, she made her way over to the microphone, already congratulating herself on making it up the stairs without tripping, unlike the previous contestant.  Hopefully the absolute nosedive of an audition that had just occurred (quite literally, as he had been lead off by paramedics with a bloody nose) would set the standards a bit lower, and she would impress.

“What’s your name, darling?” Nigel asked, setting aside his paperwork.

“Emori.”

“And where are you from, Emori?”

“Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,” she replied, smiling a bit.  It had been a bit of a long trip, but if things went well today, it would be well worth it.

“That’s quite the distance to cover.  What style will you be dancing for us today?”

“Animation, with a bit of krump and breaking.”

Nigel smiled. “We don’t get girls in here very often for those styles.”

Emori shrugged. “Well, now you’ve got one.”

That got a laugh out of the judges.  “We can’t wait to see you perform,” Nigel said, and Emori stepped back, taking her starting position as Nigel called out, “Cue music!”

While many animators liked to keep their motions slower in order to show the isolation better, Emori had never had the patience for that aspect of the style.  Instead, she focused on rapid isolations, giving her dance more of an appearance akin to a glitching robot rather than an actual robot. As it did on the streets, this seemed to both surprise and delight her audience, especially as she reached the fast sequence with her right leg as it flicked around, giving the appearance of completely uninhibited motion while still showing the incredible control she had over every part of her body.

 She had picked the music for her audition specifically for its electronic, robotic feel. As a result, the character she let show through was a robotic, animated emotion.  There was expression, and it was as cheesy as if it had been programmed into a robot.  She took advantage of this, sliding around the stage and focusing on expression in the beginning, before there was a pause in the music, and her motions slowed down.

The music came back hard hitting, and so did Emori.  The krump vibe she had promised was delivered, as she combined traditional krump elements with the finess of her animation, much to the delight of the judges by the sounds of their yelling.  She tried to showcase nearly every isolation she could, from her abdominal area to her arms to her fingers (at least on one hand), all the way up to her head and down to her ankles.

Throwing in a goofy vibe had been a choice specific to one part of her audition, and she grinned as she “did the wave,” tracing each isolation from her fingers to her elbow to her shoulder and neck and all the way down her other arm, eliciting a few laughs from her audience.  Moving her animations almost like a Barbie doll, she bent herself over and waved her arms like a child was controlling them before sliding into an almost moonwalk. Bending over, she focused on the isolations in her core, rolling all the way down her back and grinning at the sound of the cheers from the audience.  With a few final motions, Nigel cut the music, and Emori breathlessly made her way back to the microphone.

“You are an absolutely exceptional animator.  And krumper. And god knows what else,” Mia began, looking pleasantly surprised and stunned.  “You just proved that girls can rock this style, and I can’t wait to see what else you can rock.”

Nigel nodded. “That was some of the cleanest animating I’ve ever seen, and some of the fastest.  It was absolutely incredible. “

“I cannot wait to see what other tricks you’ve got up your sleeve, young lady,” Mary laughed in delight.

Nigel shrugged, casually picking up a rectangular slip in front of him.  “I guess you’d better come get your ticket to Vegas, then, if you’re going to want the chance to show us what else you can do.” 

The realization seemed to hit Emori a second late.  She had done it. She had proved that her style was worthy of recognition, and that she was good enough to move on. As she raced down to collect her ticket, she realized she was laughing, and couldn’t make herself stop. She had done what she had come to do, and succeeded.

It was time to prepare herself to keep succeeding.

__________________________________________________________________________

Octavia was freaking out, and trying very hard not to.  She couldn’t, not when they were calling her name and she needed to be performing. And especially not when her older brother was freaking out about three times more than she was.

“You can do this, O, I know it.”

She laughed, giving him a quick hug.  “I know, Bell. You’ve gotta let me up there, though, or I won’t be able to dance at all.”

Quickly, he let go, and she gave him one last smile before heading for the microphone. Shoving the butterflies down into the pit of her stomach, she stood as confidently as she could manage in front of the microphone.

“Hello darling, how are you today?” Nigel asked, glancing over her paperwork and looking up at her briefly over the rims of his reading glasses.

“I’m doing alright, and yourself?”

“I’m doing well, thank you. This says here your name is Octavia Blake?”

She nodded. “Yup, that’s me.”

 Nigel glanced up at her. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to the other Blake that auditioned today, would you?”

She grinned. “He’s my brother.”

“No kidding! It doesn’t look like you’ll be dancing ballroom for us, since you don’t have a partner with you.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m a hip hop dancer.”

Nigel’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.  “Now how on earth did _that_ happen?”

Octavia laughed. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Nigel nodded. “I can imagine. Well, are you ready to dance for us?”

She grinned, starting to feel confidence filling her.  “Oh, definitely.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.”

With a thank you, Octavia went to sit in her starting position, waiting for Nigel’s call of “And… Cue music!” to jump up and start dancing.

She was a Krumper by trade, but Octavia much preferred to have fun with the dance than to focus on the angry feel Krump generally tended to have alongside it. Instead, she intermixed the feel (and some motions) from classic hip hop along with the Krump-specific motions, creating her own blend of styles that defined her as a dancer.

Early on, she showed off her footwork, knowing it was always one of the things the boys in her dance crew had complimented her on.  Since it was one of the things she wanted to judges to see and remember her by, she peppered her solo with fast footwork left, right, and center. Between the footwork, she threw in a section of isolations, zigzagging her body downwards as if it was bouncing around in a pinball machine.  The crowd cheered, and she grinned, letting her personality through in the dance where she hadn’t before.

She crossed the stage with a series of fun, casual kicks, catching a glance over her shoulder at the grinning judges.  Her goofy tiptoe and wild arms only added to the fun feeling of the solo, and bending herself in half to pump herself back up was, from the sounds of it, another crowd pleaser.

Kicking her way into the center of the stage, she bounced side to side once more, using her knees to bring herself back down.  After she reached the floor, her legs folded back into a criss cross applesauce, and she was done.

Cheers went up all across the audience as Octavia made her way to the microphone, wiping a drop of sweat out of her eyes.  As fun as it as, the amount of energy she put into her dances always made her exhausted afterwords.

Nigel was ecstatic. “We’ve had so many delightful hip hop dancers today, and yet they keep managing to stand out from each other in the best ways.  That was very fun to watch, and you have some very talented footwork hidden in there, young lady.”

Octavia grinned as Mary continued.  “Your footwork is exceptional, as is your personality.  I think I see a lot of potential and hints of technique hiding away in there that any choreographer would love to work with.”

“I know I would,” Mia continued.  “You’re just so much fun, and I love every second of watching you dance.”

“And I think we’ll all see even more of you once you find your way to Vegas,” Nigel grinned, waving a ticket around in the air.

__________________________________________________________________________

Lincoln was still standing out in the auditorium lobby with his dogs when 3:00 was rolling around, and he was getting incredibly nervous.  There was no one in sight, and he needed to get into the theater.

What if they called him and he wasn’t there?  Shit. He shouldn’t have brought the dogs.

Lily whined, and Lincoln shrugged.  “I know, girl. We’ll figure it out.”

Just as the words left his mouth, a girl burst out of the theater, laughing in delight. “I got a ticket!” she yelped, a camera rushing up to film her reaction.

In a moment of desperation brought on by the faint sound of his name being called on stage, Lincoln ran up to her.  “Hey, congrats on your ticket. Look, they’re calling my name and I really need to get up there but I brought my dogs and I can’t bring them into the theater itself and long story short can you watch my dogs for me?”

The girl looked confused, but grinned once she saw the dogs.  She took the leash, and Lincoln was suddenly hit with a wave of relief. “Go,” she said, “I’ll look after them. Good luck!”

He rushed away towards the stage, passing another boy who was rushing towards the girl to sweep her up in a hug. Over his shoulder, he heard the other boy talking to the girl, and almost laughed at the sudden shift in their conversation.

“O, this is great, and I’m so proud of you!  I always knew you’d… wait. Whose dogs are these? Where did you get dogs?”

__________________________________________________________________________

By some miracle, Lincoln made it up to the stage before they put him down as a no show. The good news was that he had absolutely no time whatsoever to be nervous.  The bad news was that he barely had any idea how the auditions had gone so far that day, and it was starting to hit him just how serious this moment was.

“What’s your name, son?” Nigel asked him, and he cleared his through.  This was showtime.

“My name is Lincoln Whittle, and I’m 25 years old.”

“Nice to meet you, Lincoln. What style will you be performing for us today?”

“Contemporary.”

Nigel smiled, waving him on. “Can’t wait to see it.” With the call of, “Cue music!” Lincoln took a deep breath, focused, and began the most important audition of his life.

When he danced, he tried to find a balance between strength and fluidity.  He had done Karate before, and he had always remembered his instructor commenting on how he needed both of those things in his forms, not just one or the other.  It was the same with his dance.  So while he started with a fluid motion, he made sure the strength and purpose behind everything he did was evident every time he did it.

His turn sequence went flawlessly, much to his delight.  Turns were always hit or miss for him- either his pirouette was perfect, or he stumbled out of them.  Luckily, the latter had been fewer and father between lately, but it was still a relief to know he had succeeded on one of his more frustrating techniques. 

He leaned forward, balancing in a slow turning, completely vertical arabesque for a moment before dropping into the preparation for a leap.  That leap had him landing in a split, yet another demonstration of his flexibility. As he folded himself out of the pose, he stretched himself yet again, drawing an ooh of surprise and delight from both the judges and the audience. 

The music transitioned into something a bit more jazz-y, and his dance did along with it.  He still stayed on the side of contemporary, but incorporated a few motions he knew from the jazz classes he had taken.  He focused on his arms here, knowing the extending, flowing motions he had used earlier were no longer appropriate.  A different feel to the music meant a different expectation from the audience. Before he got too far into that segment, however, he was cut off by the judges, and returned to the microphone to the sounds of applause from the audience.  Whatever happened next, at least it sounded like they had enjoyed his audition, he supposed.

Mary was the first to comment.  “You are an absolute powerhouse.  There is some aura about your dance that is haunting and beautiful and makes me just want to keep watching you.”

“I love it,” Mia continued.  “I think you’re fantastic.  Your lines are gorgeous, your extensions are beautiful, your technique is just – wow. You’re the whole package.”

“I won’t drag this on any longer,” Nigel laughed, “Because I loved it absolutely as much as these ladies did.  Come and get your ticket, young man.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Lincoln raced out of the theater, almost giddy with his success.  The dogs were right where he had left them, with the same girl and her… brother?

No, the guy’s dance partner had his arm slung around her shoulders, and was resting her head against his shoulder.  They must be together, so the other girl with his dogs must be his sister.

“I got the ticket!” he told her, taking the leashes back.  She grinned back, matching his giddy excitement.

“Congrats!”

He nudged Diego up from where he had been enjoying a belly rub and nodded.  “See you in Vegas, I guess.  Thanks for watching my dogs.”

“Come find me in Vegas,” the girl joked.  “You owe me one.”

He threw a thumbs up over his shoulder, dashing out to the street with his suddenly overexcited dogs. Her laugh followed him out, and it made him feel like dancing all over again.

__________________________________________________________________________

The whole concept of choreography was making Atom nervous.

He had made his way through the instruction fairly well, and now he and his partner were practicing in the wings before their group was called to perform.  Being a part of the first group to go wasn’t helping his nerves any more, either.  Mel was a nice enough girl, and she was helping him through the steps with more patience than he expected from a contemporary dancer.

Their performance went fairly well, he thought.  No stumbles, no drops, no overt fumbles, and they hit all the steps.

Apparently, that was enough for the judges as well.  Both he and Mel made it through to Vegas, and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off Atom’s shoulders.

“You know, I’m going to need to know how to pronounce your name for Vegas,” Nigel called after him as he left the stage.

Atom was giddy with excitement. “I’ll coach you through it when we get there,” he promised, nearly skipping down the aisle of theater seats in an attempt to retrieve his bag.

He had made it through to the next round.

__________________________________________________________________________

Bellamy picked up the choreography easily, and, luckily for him, so did his partner. Both ballroom dancers, Roma and he both spent the majority of their rehearsal time trying to add a little extra flavor into what they had been given in order to stand out in the best way possible.

Whatever they did worked. Both of them earned high praise from the judges, although it turned out they didn’t need any of the extra work they had put in.  Both the other groups they were sent out with struggled so badly with the choreography that they would have looked good even if they hadn’t tried so hard.  With praises from the judges ringing in their ears, they both climbed off the stage, tickets in hand.

Octavia met him at the door, running to embrace him almost the second she saw him.  Swinging her around, he threw her onto his back in a moment of ecstatic joy and raced out of the building, charging as if heading off to war. They didn’t realize they were being followed by cameras until much later, when the televised episode showed the two of them racing down the street, just barely catching Bellamy’s cry of “Vegas, baby!” as he charged away, sibling in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this was posted so late! I got bombarded with essays last week, so all of my writing energy had to be poured into those. I may try to upload another chapter later in the week to make up for the nearly two week gap without one, but it may just come on schedule. I'll try my upmost to post on Tuesdays each week, so keep an eye out for that.
> 
> Side note: Lincoln's dogs are based off my future dogs. These are the plans I have made for the future.
> 
> Links for this Chapter:  
> (As always, please take the dance audition itself, and not the story or the personality of the dancer)
> 
> Bellamy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYdPhJVtrbs 
> 
> Atom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dL2C3VV_R4 
> 
> Emori: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdgAo-e7YY (side note: this girl was the runner up this season, which just ended. This was her first audition.)
> 
> Octavia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVvHt56Zi5U (side note: this dancer's audition was never aired, and as I mentioned in the chapter, there aren't very many female hip hop dancers that audition. There were this season, but those videos hadn't been uploaded when my sister and I were planning this, and they still aren't really up. This is a solo she did while she was on the show.)
> 
> Lincoln: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjzZcHK9mAs 
> 
> Props to my sister for steering me in the right direction this whole time, and keeping me aware of what I was putting on the page.
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated - thanks to everyone who let me know what they thought!


	4. Memphis Auditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I'm not gonna even try and excuse how late this is just have it and we can talk after

The static _pop_ of a radio turning on, followed by the tinny sounds of country music, jolted Miller out of bed far earlier than he would have appreciated any other day.  He groaned, shifted, and managed to get his feet underneath him as he rolled out of bed. Blearily, he threw an arm out, smacking the alarm clock until it turned off as the other hand rummaged around on his apartment floor for a towel.

If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t actually like country music all that much. At five AM in Memphis, though, there wasn’t much else playing, and his alarm clock had a pretty limited number of stations it would pick up.  Plus, to live in Memphis without at least tolerating country music was like living in Canada without a tolerance for the cold.

After a quick shower and a cup of coffee, Miller felt awake enough to reach for his keys. He knew he probably should be more nervous about the audition happening later that day, but he was honestly too tired to be strung up.  His shift hadn’t gotten out until late, and it had been a busy night.  It was because he was so tired, however, that he didn’t really look at any sort of clock until it was nearly too late for him to leave and make it to the theater on time.

Jerking awake suddenly, he threw his bowl into the sink, nearly bowling over his cat in an attempt to make it over to the corner by the door where he kept his shoes. Calling out a muffled apology over his shoulder, he reached back to scratch him behind the ears before snatching his bag off the chair and dashing out the door.

He raced down to the bus stop, making it just in time to watch the thing crawl up to the curb, coughing exhaust out its tailpipe.  With a sigh, he boarded and paid for his ticket.  With any luck, he’d be in Vegas in the next few weeks.

__________________________________________________________________________

Monroe found her way off the airplane about seven hours later than she wanted to. Despite the copious amounts of delays, she had somehow made it to Memphis before the auditions started, and that streak of good luck seemed to be the only thing keeping her awake.

Her hat almost fell off as a businessman dressed in a rumpled suit brushed past her, and she caught it before it could get carried away with a muffled curse before settling it back on her head.  There were too many people around, in her opinion, but it was an airport.  It wasn’t like she had much of an option. Hundreds of suitcases rolled by, even at 3 AM.  It seemed like half the world was still awake, even if Monroe herself was half asleep.

She found her way outside to a nearly deserted city street.  “Take me home, country road,” she mumbled, pulling up directions to the theater on her phone before heading in that direction.  At this point, it wouldn’t be worth it to head to the hotel she had booked. She didn’t want to seem like one of those fanatics who got in line at 4 AM just to be the first one there, but she didn’t have much of a choice but to be one of them.  It would be easier to sleep in line than it would be to turn around the second she made it to the hotel. 

With a sigh, Monroe shouldered her backpack and made her way down the sidewalk, aiming for downtown.

__________________________________________________________________________

_You should try out_ , they had said.  _It’ll be fun_ , they said. _You need a new outlet_ , they said, _one better for you_.

Was getting up this early really what they had in mind?

People didn’t generally suggest stress-inducing situations to help people who struggled with anger, but for whatever reason, everyone seemed to think this would be a good idea for him.  Turn the man into a dancer, and the dancer into a better man.  Yeah. Because that would work out.

Whatever. As long as it got everyone off his back, he was willing to give it a shot.  If they wanted a dancer, they’d get one.  He was the beat, the beat was him and all that jazz.

He arrived as late as he possibly could to still make it inside.  Getting the last number of the day, he slipped inside the theater towards the back, tugging his jacket around his shoulders as he fell into a seat in an attempt to look unapproachable.  He’d come, he’d audition, he’d participate to get the points, and he’d do his best not to look like an idiot while he did it, but he’d be damned if he was going to be social.

Plus, there were going to be other guys there who danced ten times better than him. He wasn’t going to say no to learning something from them. 

With a sigh, John Murphy settled into the theater seat, slouching as the judges came onstage to explain the events of the day.

__________________________________________________________________________

Miller met his partner in the lobby of the theater.  Trina was nice enough, and wanted to audition even more than he did, if they were being honest. She was obviously nervous, fiddling with the hem of her shirt and glancing around as she waited for him to appear. Once she caught sight of him, she started towards him, and he offered a wave in her direction.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she told him once she was closer. “I was getting nervous waiting by myself.”

He smiled, feeling more than a bit awkward.  “Good to see you too. We’re going on close to noon, right?” he asked, glancing down at the registration sheet.

“Yeah.” She sighed and stepped away from him, obviously still frustrated with something.  “You know, my old partner Pascal never would have been late.”

Miller raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.  “I wasn’t late, Trina, just a little behind you in line.”

She shrugged, turning away and starting towards the theater.  “It doesn’t matter now.  Come on, let’s just find seats before they all get taken.”

Miller followed here, feeling more than a bit annoyed.  He hadn’t had a chance to really get to know his partner, since they’d only been working together for a few months.  Both of them had wanted to audition for the show, and Trina’s old partner had twisted his ankle before they could get any serious work done on their routine. One of the instructors at their studio had suggested they work together for the audition, and it had worked out pretty nicely.  Both of them got the chance to audition, and both of them had a partner they wouldn’t mind being separated from once it came to Vegas (if they made it to Vegas).

Unfortunately, Trina was still sore over not being able to audition with her partner. There was nothing Miller could really do about that beyond bear her comparisons and complaints, but even the thought that he wouldn’t have to deal with it after today didn’t help his frustration.

With a resigned huff of breath, he followed her into the auditorium, sitting himself down next to her to watch the other auditions of that day.

__________________________________________________________________________

Monroe actually gave up her spot in line once people started arriving, moving back towards the dance crew she saw assembling a few people behind her in line.  She’d rather be close to the action than to the front of the line, she realized, and the girl with the bun and bring purple dance bag was more than happy to be a bit closer to the front and trade places with her.

Once the sun rose, the dance crew started to loosely warm up, and Monroe found herself joining them. An informal circle formed after a while, which got more and more energized the longer it went on.

Monroe watched for a bit before claiming her own spot inside, taking advantage of a few extra sets of eyes to show off some of the things she’d put into her own audition. When she heard a good response from the crowd, she knew she had chosen correctly, and smirked to herself as she spun out to let the next guy in for his turn in the middle.

A camera nosed its way next to her a few minutes later, catching a bit of footage they were told would go into the episode when it was cut later before the man scurried off to go film someone else in line.  It was a startling reminder that this wasn’t just any other dance competition. There were going to be cameras and judges that were just as much TV personalities as they were technicians (some maybe even more the first) and producers and famous choreographers.

It was a lot to realize all at once.

Shaking her head to clear it, Monroe got herself together just in time to look up to see Cat Deely emerging from inside the doors to welcome the group inside.  Feeling like she was stuck in a mosh pit, the crowd surged forward, carrying Monroe with it to the registration table as the guys from the crew wished her good luck and made their way to another table.

This was all happening, and she was about to be caught up in it. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Murphy watched the first dancers with a mix of disdain and trepidation.  He kept his arms crossed, rolled his eyes at the sob stories, and sniggered to himself as the judges praised another 20-something year old contemporary dancer for almost the exact same thing they had said to the girl before her.

It was like watching a cycling tape over and over again.

But as far as he could tell, the dancers were all fairly technically sound.  He had never taken formal classes beyond the few he had been muscled into in the last few months, and any sort of dance he had done had been based on what everyone else around him was doing – more pathetic wiggling and jumping than anything else.

But he could feel the beats in a way he could tell the other guys couldn’t.  There was more to the club music than just jumping and grinding. He had experimented in the quiet of his room to some of the songs he remembered from his childhood, trying to impress his parents by dancing the way he had seen the guys on the sidewalk dance. His mother had offered to find him dance classes, and he had shook his head, calling her silly.

Everything was a lot easier when he was five.

The dancers on stage had obviously taken their mothers up on their offers.  They all talked about dancing all their lives, and the studios they grew up in, and all the time they spent training for this moment.

Murphy had practiced for a few months in his bedroom, and only to get everyone off his back about it. There was no way he could stand up to the experts in the room.

At least it would get everyone to fuck off.

__________________________________________________________________________

After a quick warm-up in the aisles and at least four more comments about the ever-present Pascal, Miller and Trina were making their way up to the stage.  Miller did his best to shut down anything other than the focus he would need to make the best audition he could, and forget about Pascal.

“Hello there,” Nigel Lithgoe smiled, watching as they made their way to the microphone.

“Hi,” Trina answered, taking the liberty of speaking for the group, which Miller was more than all right with.

“You’re both auditioning for us today?” Nigel asked, and she nodded.

"Yes, we are.”

“Have you been partners long?”

Miler shook his head, and Trina answered.  “Just a few moths. My old partner, Pascal, got hurt, and so Nathan and I partnered for the audition.”

Nigel nodded sympathetically. “I understand. Well, best of luck to the both of you, and we’d love to see what you have for us today.”

Thanking them, Miller and Trina took their positions.  They met eyes, and Trina smiled at Miller, mouthing “Good luck” just before the music started.

The entire routine, their focus was on their footwork.  Trina and Miller were swing dancers by trade, and, just like any other ballroom style, footwork was a crucial component to a killer routine. 

Since they were both skilled in that area, the teachers at their studio had seen no danger in making their routine’s footwork as showey and impressive as possible.  From the quick glance Miller caught at the judges’ faces, it had been worth it.  Mary, in particular, seemed impressed, and if they could get the ballroom expert on their side, they were definitely doing something right.

Something felt off, though, going into their spin.  They executed it correctly for the most part, but Trina was ever so slightly off balance, and Miller felt it.  Neither of them stumbled, and the routine kept moving, but it was something that couldn’t be ignored.  Small, but obvious.

The next spin was just Trina, and she approached it so that it was without any obvious flaws, trying to make up for their last blunder.  They needed the judges to like them if they had any hopes of making it to choreography, and shoddy dancing wouldn’t cut it.

If that didn’t work to secure the judge’s confidence in them, Miller was sure the next segment would.  He scooped Trina up, flipping her over before flipping himself, and her one last time. A cheer went up from the crowd as Trina finished the move, sliding into a split.  They both grinned, basking in their success for a half a second before Miller was helping pull her up, spinning her around the second she was on her feet.

Swing was fast, and so were Miller and Trina.  Where the sort of acrobatics in their routine would have made any ballroom dancer dizzy, they shook it off in moments, ready for another bout of fast and fancy footwork before Miller was throwing himself into his own pirouettes, spinning around faster and faster each rotation before snapping out of it and dropping into his own split.

Shouts of surprise went up from the audience, which turned into cheers and applause as Nigel cut off the music.  Miller levied himself up to his feet, and, both grinning and out of breath, he and Trina made their way back to the microphone.

“Well,” Nigel began, “I quite liked the show of energy going on out there. Both of you were certainly enthusiastic about your routine.  I would have liked to see a bit more consistency throughout your routine, however. There were times when I felt hesitation along with that enthusiasm, and I think we all felt it.”

Mary nodded.  “I agree. You’ve both got some exceptional talent when it comes to footwork, but there are pieces of this that I just didn’t get from you.  You were missing that second dimension I need in chemistry, there were some parts were I saw stiffness where I should have seen something looser, especially from Trina… it was good, but not something that blew me away.” 

The third judge of the day, choreographer Christopher Scott, said much the same thing.  “Your energy was great, but it fluctuated.  I need it steady. But, I’m a yes for choreography.”

Two more agreements from Mary and Nigel, and the pair was on their way off the stage to wait for 7 PM with baited breath.

__________________________________________________________________________

Monroe had only been back from her search for lunch for about ten minutes before she heard her name being called.  Setting aside her sandwich, she swallowed fast and found her way up the stairs, smiling and waving hello to the judges just in time to see her sandwich fall off the seat over their shoulders.

She winced, then turned her full attention to the people in front of her.  Instead of asking the questions she would expect, however, Christopher Scott turned to look over at where she had been looking. “Is everything alright? I just saw you wince.”

She shrugged, shuffling a bit. “My sandwich fell.”

He laughed. “A true tragedy.”

“What’s your name, darling?” Nigel asked, smiling a bit as Mary laughed over the sandwich.

"Monroe.”

“Is that your first name or your last name?”

“It’s the name I go by when I perform.”

Nigel shrugged. “Alright, that works for me. What style will you be doing for us today?”

“Uh, krump?”

The judges seemed shocked. “I’m sorry, krump?” Nigel asked, seemingly confused.

She laughed a bit. “Yup.”

There was a moment of nervous silence where the audience laughed a bit, and a lone cheer made its way out of the crowd before Nigel cleared his throat and continued. “Well, I absolutely cannot wait to see it.”

With a smile, Monroe made her way to the back of the stage, head down and prepared for Nigel’s call of “Cue music!”

Taking a deep breath, she sprinted forward, throwing herself in to her back handspring back tuck to start things off with a high level of energy.  Met with shouts and cheers of surprise, Monroe immediately fell back into the mindset she often found herself in while performing: focused, relaxed, and ready to hit any beat as hard as possible.

Throwing a pirouette in as a homage to the dance classes she had taken when she was younger, Monroe broke away from any traditional style right after that.  All of her power went into her hits as she matched each motion to a beat.  Her attitude consumed the stage, sweeping the judges into surprised and delighted cheers as she nailed each motion with ease.

Krumping was less technical than any sort of animation, but Monroe still focused on her isolations and any other formal technicalities, determined not to lose points on things easily preventable.  Each jump was landed without stumble and on balance, and she made sure her energy never wavered.

Glancing over at the judges’ table, she noticed Nigel grimacing along with her, and it was all she could do not to laugh out loud.  The krump stank face did not go as well with him as it did on krumpers, that much was clear.

She focused on injecting the atmosphere she had created into every motion remaining in her choreography.  Falling nearly to the ground on her back and leveraging herself back up again was a demonstration of her core strength, and she jumped around to the beat before entering a sequence of actual, technical steps.  With a final drop, she fell from standing onto her knee, holding it for a moment before Nigel cut the music off with a hand to the air.

Monroe headed back over to the microphone, reveling in the delighted applause from the audience and judges.  As she was catching her breath, Mary began to give her feedback.

“That was fantastic!” she yelled, triggering more cheering from the audience.  “You hit everything about three times as hard as I would expect from someone as adorable as you.  You’ve got to be one of the best female krumpers to ever audition for this show.”

Christopher cut in after that. “You’re absolutely fantastic. You bring the power, it’s incredible. There’s, like, so much potential, and you’re so tiny compared to some of these big guys that I feel like could probably crush me with their boot, you know?”

She laughed, and Nigel continued.  “Your attitude was contagious.  I absolutely adored everything about it.  I’d definitely like to see you pick up some steps, but it’s a definite yes to choreography for me.”

“Oh, of course,” added Mary.

Christopher shrugged. “Was there ever any doubt? Duh, she’s going to choreography.”

Grinning wide, Monroe thanked the judges and found her way back to her seat.  The only thing that even slightly dampened her attitude was the sudden reminder that her sandwich was on the ground and no longer edible, but if she didn’t need to be back for a few hours, there was time to go get another one.

___________________________________________________________________________

Murphy had stopped paying attention a few auditions ago, and almost missed his name being called. Shaking himself a bit when the guy next to him muttered something like, “Dude isn’t that you?” he ran up to the stage, hastily pulling his focus together.

_Smile,_ a voice in his head told him as he reached a microphone. At the last second, he did, trying not to wince at the thought of how forced it must look to the judges. Damn.

“What’s your name, son?” Nigel asked, glancing over the paperwork in front of him.

“Murphy. Uh, John Murphy, but I go by Murphy.” He swallowed hard, dropping the smile and forcing himself to relax back into his more confident, cocky self.

“Any relation to our Mary over here?”

“Nah, not unless she knows something I don’t,” he joked, eliciting a laugh from the judges.

“Alright, and what style will you be dancing for us today?”

“B-boying.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.”

With a thumbs up, Murphy found his starting position, and paused a moment to await the call of, “Cue music!”

Murphy didn’t beat around the bush, jumping a couple steps before launching himself into groundwork. Balanced on his palms, he spun around rapidly, swinging his legs to increase his speed. After a few rotations, he fell onto his shoulders, continuing that spinning momentum through the next segment of his dance until he popped up into the worm.

He threw a kipup into a pose before levering himself up to his feet and dancing around a bit while standing. It was a tribute to the footwork he had learned as a kid, and even though it only lasted a few seconds and didn’t really fit with the rest of his material, Murphy didn’t care. The judges may not like it, but he did, and that’s what really mattered. 

Throwing himself back on the ground, he went through some slower motions, pausing at the end of each one to hold a pose.  Popping out of a handstand, he jumped over the leg he had caught in one hand with his other leg and continued to dance on his feet for another moment, falling down and coming right back up. 

As the routine drew to a close, Murphy kicked up into a handstand, bending one leg and hopping around on one hand.  He switched his legs multiple times, holding it so long the audience started to cheer for him as he continued to hold the position with unwavering balance.  He folded himself out of it just in time to see Nigel cut off the music, and shook himself out to the applause of the audience before heading back towards the judges panel.

Christopher Scott was the first to give him feedback.  “Woah. I mean it man, woah. You’ve got something special there in the way you move.  Your tricks are fantastic, you feel the beat, you’ve even got the potential in there for some more traditional footwork.  You’re the full package.”

Nigel grinned. “That was stunning, young man. I hate to cut off Miss Mary, here, but if she has no objections I’m just going to tell you to come and get your ticket right here.”

To the sound of Mary’s cheers of support, Murphy found his way down the stage’s stairs to claim his ticket to Vegas.

Huh.  Maybe everyone had been right about him auditioning after all.

__________________________________________________________________________

]Miller wouldn’t admit it if anyone had asked, but he was nervous as Hell.  He wanted this ticket more than anything, and he had to make it through choreography to do that.  Trina getting sent home already wasn’t helping him, either.

The choreography itself wasn’t so bad.  It was his partner, however, that was making him nervous.

She was incredibly camera shy, it turned out, which was a little odd considering what they were auditioning for. In fact, she was just incredibly shy in general.  A few times, Miller had tried to pick up a thread of conversation, only to watch it wither and die within a few moments.

Why did all of his partners suck at being partners?

Before he could think too deeply on that, his group was called out on stage to dance.

He did the best he could to support both of them, trying to create chemistry and amplify what they were doing by himself.  His partner was technically very good, but had absolutely no presence,

Apparently, judges noticed too. When they called her name, it was actually the first time Miller learned it.  She was dismissed, and Miller’s stomach churned.  This was it, he realized.  He was fucked.

But the judges didn’t think so. His success didn’t even really register until he was standing outside the theater, bag slung over one shoulder and a ticket to Vegas in one hand.

__________________________________________________________________________

The concept of a choreographed routine with a partner was not one that Monroe was confortable or familiar with in the slightest.  Her partner wasn’t making it any easier, no matter how helpful he tried to be. Myles was energetic, and actually gave a bit of sound technical advice, but talked through every single possible moment.

Monroe was beginning to miss silence.

Or anything other than the sound of his voice.

Luckily, she wouldn’t have to listen much longer.  Their group was called out to the stage, and he had to shut up in order to dance.

Their routine actually went very well.  Not a single stumble, lots of energy, and almost exactly right.  It was exactly what they needed to advance, and it seemed like the judges thought the same way, sending them both through to Vegas. 

Goal accomplished, Monroe returned to the airport the next day, thankfully carrying two tickets instead of one.

__________________________________________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I meant to post this and got totally distracted halfway through with my asshole of a Chem teacher and 
> 
> alright whatever it's here now and I'll be posting the next one within the next week for sure because you guys deserve more than this
> 
> The next chapter is the last of the auditions, and then it's on to Vegas, and the real plot begins to thicken!
> 
> Links for today:
> 
> Miller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnnpPA-2Kz8
> 
> Monroe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFphlVccQ6I 
> 
> Murphy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaLwGfxKuLQ 
> 
> As always, take the dance, not the personality of the person auditioning.
> 
> Thanks again to Bridget for beta-ing and getting on me when she realized how long I'd been lazy and not posted.
> 
> I will be better in the future. Thank you guys for sticking with it and letting me know what you guys are liking, it's much appreciated.


End file.
